Sam Sparro Flying Lindsay Lohan to Chart Domination

Sam Sparro's popularity is spreading faster than salmonella in salami.

Not only did he smash the charts to pieces with his song 'Black and Gold', he's also been enlisted to help revive Lindsay Lohan's flagging pop career!

And here we were thinking that Lindsay's pop career was a passing fad. But with acting roles thin on the ground it seems that the skank-meister is super serious about cracking the pop charts so much so she has enlisted the brightest stars on the music scene, which includes the
Aussie singer and UK chart topper, to workshop a new song for her album 'Spirit In The Dark.'

Sam got the nod to work with Linds after being recommended by Mark Ronson brother of her leso-lover Samantha Ronson.

The 'Black And Gold' singer admits he was taken aback when he got a call to fly down to America to work with the 'Mean Girls' star.

"Working with Lindsay is an interesting proposition," said Sparro.

"I've always been a big fan and I think she's cool. 'I've never met Samantha Ronson but I have met her dad and her sister Charlotte when I was working with Mark at Coachella. They are a great family.

'I'll be heading over to Los Angeles and New York in a couple of weeks to start writing for Lindsay and a few other artists. I'm really excited."

He should be. Sam will be joining a galaxy of stars who have signed up to work on Lindsay's album, including Ne-Yo Akon, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Kanye West and Timbaland.

Mark, who helped produced Amy Winehouse's Grammy Award winning album 'Back To Black', has had nothing but good things to say about Sam since he started performing in Los Angeles back in the day.

And the man love is mutual Sam said, 'Support from people like Mark kept me going. He's a sweet, humble guy and a great person to be around. If I hear someone speak badly about him, I'll always leap to his defense.'

So while the rest of the world has been busy crafting Miss Lohan's extra curricular activities into tabloid fodder (namely her rumoured romance with gal pal Samantha Ronson), she's been head-down bum-up in the studio. By all accounts it seems the album will be a star-studded affair with a host of guest appearances and producers.

Add to the mix her recent move to Motown Records, and who knows, the album might even be good.

By Penelope Quinn

Chris Brown & Neyo Sell Wrigley Gum

When you hear the line "double your pleasure, double your fun" in the new Chris Brown single 'Forever', you could be forgiven for thinking the R&B hit maker swings both ways.

But in fact, the hit song is actually just an extended version of the new 30-second jingle for Wrigley's Double Mint gum.

Lost your appetite? Maybe that's why Chris decided to reveal the Wrigley's funding after the song charted.

He recorded the jingle and then extended the song with producer Polow Da Don during Wrigley-purchased studio time. The song was then released as a single, then included on the deluxe 'Exclusive' album edition.

But Chris isn't the only hit-maker star joining the Wrigley's Sell Out Club. Ne-Yo will take on Big Red's "Kiss A Little Longer" jingle while Dancing With the Stars' Julianne Hough countrified the Juicy Fruit song.

It's true that artists have been selling fans everything from phones to kicks to the kitchen sink for the past ten years; just look at any slick music video from the states for all the product placement you can handle. But listening to a catchy top ten single from a respected mainstream artist, unawares that you are being sold confectionary, is another matter. And it leaves a bad Double Minty taste in our mouths.

Artists and their labels have always been entrepreneurial in finding alternate ways to make a buck via merchandising and endorsements, but does corporate-sponsored singles suggest the music industry has finally admitted defeat in the war against free digital downloads?

The move was a very clever one on Wrigley's part. The song was released a while ago, but by the time listeners made the link that 'Forever' was actually a covert advertisement for Double Mint Gum, the Wrigley's slogan was firmly engrained into the psyche of every Chris Brown fan the world over. And that's what's we call 'synergy' in the marketing biz, kids.

God forbid any one of these artists pass up a cheque on the grounds of artistic integrity, so realistically, it was only a matter of time before corporate sponsors wheedled their way in.
It makes sense; using a proven vehicle that target markets respond to (the artist) the jingle that everyone recognizes and remembers (the chorus) all packaged in a slick 'commercial' (the music video). The company gets their ad, the muso gets their pay cheque, and we are sold a product. What multinational wouldn't want super stars vouching for their product via a top ten hit? Still, it's a sad day for music when advertisers start subconsciously selling products (especially confectionary) to the unawares-public via catchy singles.

How music fans will digest this news is still to be seen. We may be wrong, but confectionary-funded top ten hits may be a little hard to swallow. But who knows, maybe gum will be the savior of the music industry. Chew on that.

By Penny Newton