Backstage Pass

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     Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” hangs tough at No. 1 for a second week, as the entire Top 3 held off new releases from Motley Crue and Three 6 Mafia.
    “Viva La Vida” managed another 249,000 sales last week, enough to stay ahead of Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III,” which rings up another 209,000 in sales to stay at No. 2, and the Jonas Brothers-fueled “Camp Rock” soundtrack, which sold another 169,000 to stand at No. 3.
    The Crue opened at No. 4, with 99,000 sales of “Saints of Los Angeles.” And everyone’s favorite Oscar-winning rappers Three 6 Mafia debuted at No. 5 on 77,000 sales of “Last 2 Walk.”
    On the singles chart, Katy Perry hangs on to the top spot, as the Top 4 – Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” No. 2 Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop,” No. 3 Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” and No. 4 Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” – remains static. But they should all watch out, as the Jonas Brothers’ new single “Burnin’ Up” (not the Madonna song) debuts at No. 5.

PHOTO: Coldplay -- Will Champion, Guy Berryman, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland -- by Stephan Craneanscki for Capitol Records.

The Summer Single isn't always a great song or even a good one. (No, I'm still not going to include Katy Perry's awful "I Kissed a Girl" in this list.) It's the song that sounds best booming from cars on the corner, blasting from radios at the beach, or on the system at every holdiay party you hit this weekend.

Here's the Backstage Pass playlist:

NOTES: (1) Yeah, the LCD Soundsystem song is kinda old, but it's received a new life thanks to the upcoming Will Ferrell movie. (2) We would've thrown Weezer's "Pork and Beans" in, but Geffen insists on blocking it on Imeem. Sorry, Rivers.

After the whole ridiculous hullabaloo over Jay-Z headlining the Glastonbury Festival this year, including Oasis' Noel Gallagher claiming that hip-hop was wrong for the festival, Hova took the stage Saturday night by thumbing his nose at the controversy. Donning a guitar, he took on Oasis' "Wonderwall" before launching into a raucous version of "99 Problems" that was just as rock and roll as anything else at the festival. Sorry, Noel.

[Explicit Jay-Z language in the clip below.]

Jay-Z, "Wonderwall/99 Problems"

Not only did Chrisette Michele like Tyler Perry's TBS show "House of Payne" enough to write a new song, "Love Jones," promoting it, but the Patchogue singer-songwriter made up a new dance for it as well. [Click on pic for the video]

   If you go just by his music, Johnnie Lee Jordan sounds like he's from Kansas or Texas or Minnesota, maybe, somewhere with lots of open space and from an era that's more timeless than timely.
   Jordan's latest EP, "With a Little Help From My Friends," reflects the Patchogue singer-songwriter's love of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, along with a bit of The Replacements, but it also reflects his literary style of songwriting.
   "I love music, but I also love literature," Jordan says. "I do try to write in a very literary vein. I try to write a story in the song that people can relate to, a story that kind of takes people to a different place."
   He does that in "Tough Love," building an entire story line out of short, clipped descriptions. "Baby, you're a liar," he sings at the end of a litany of complaints, "but I'm a liar, too."<br>  "I try not to subscribe to a certain sound," Jordan explains, adding that he also enjoys jazz, blues, folk, punk and hip-hop. "I try to let it all run its course when I write."<br>   And it all does find a place in his music - well, except for the hip-hop, though that could change, too. "Pop Song" has a nice Replacements-ish swagger that sounds only more impressive when the complexities of the seething lyrics get added in, "Pop song? I hope this pop song makes me sound as phony as you," he sings.
    Jordan, who turned 21 earlier this month, says he's in the middle of writing more songs he hopes to record and release as a full album on his own by the end of the year. But he's also planning as many shows as he can do, getting the word out about his music wherever he can.
   "There are so many bands out there, it's really hard getting people out," he says. "People are so cautious about what they do, it's tough to let people know who you are or what you look like, what your music's about. You just have to keep getting out there and see who you connect with."

Jordan plays a free concert at Port Jefferson Free Library, 100 Thompson St., Port Jefferson, 631- 473-0022, at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Johnnie Lee Jordan [MySpace]

PHOTO: Johnnie Lee Jordan

For this week at least, Coldplay can drop the "used to" from their new single. Their "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" album does rule the world.

The album will top the charts next week on sales of 721,000, making it the year's second-biggest debut behind Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III," which sold more than a million copies its first week and another 308,000 last week to land at No. 2. Coldplay will also be No. 1 in England, Japan, Australia, Canada, France and Germany.

The Jonas Brothers-filled soundtrack to "Camp Rock" debuted at No. 3, on sales of 188,000, and the "Now 28" compilation slips a notch to No. 4. With a 68 percent sales drop, Plies' "Definition of Real" slides from No. 2 to No. 5 in its second week.

With no massive releases set for this week, Coldplay should hang on for a second week at No. 1, but will it have enough staying power to outlast 50 Cent's G-Unit release on July 1 to make it three weeks at the top?

PHOTO: Chris Martin at Madison Square Garden on Monday by Ari Mintz for Newsday.

Blake Lewis is no longer on Arista, after the label declined to pick up the option for his next album. It's another sign of the deepening problems of the record industry, one where artists -- even ones that arrive with millions of already-passionate fans -- don't get a lot of time or resources if they don't start producing smashes right away. Lewis, runner-up on last year's "American Idol," lasted less than a year on the label. His exit leaves Clay Aiken, and this year's David Archuleta, as the only Idol runners-up with major-label deals.

"No biggy," Lewis wrote on his MySpace page this morning. "I'm still with 19 Recordings and I got a tour and new record on the way. Now, I'll I need is a home for my music. Some place warm and tropical.... seriously though... Got to be a place where they actually respect my craft and electronic music."

Lewis' announcement comes at an odd time. He played the Canal Room last night and his single "How Many Words" is currently climbing the dance charts. However, Lewis said the song's success wasn't really due to the label anyway. "Getting RCA to do remixes for my record was like pulling teeth AND I had friends do the mixes for next to nothing," Lewis wrote. "They turned out great and are rising on the Billboard charts. .. So freaking pumped. People been shakin there booties to some electro Brake.. hehe."

PHOTO: Blake Lewis for Arista

With all this Long Island music scene talk today, it seemed like a good time to talk about the launch of the Long Island Band Board -- a new forum built by our pals over at Newsday.com where local bands can announce shows, post flyers, find other bands to gig with and talk about the scene. Well, at least, that's what we hope it'll be.

Anyway, check it out. Post some info and we'll see how it goes. And, in other housekeeping, The Long Island Sound column has moved to Sundays and you can still email us links to your MySpace or new MP3s at thelisound@gmail.com. This Sunday's installment will feature Patchogue up-and-comer Johnnie Lee Jordan.

Long Island Band Board

And, for no reason other than we feel bad we missed their show Saturday night, here's Nightmare of You's "My Name Is Trouble" video

With the start of his story arc on MTV's "The Real World" set to start tomorrow, Matthew Bair has unveiled the name of his new solo project. The singer-songwriter from Seaford, formerly of Bandcamp, is going to be known as The Sequel, which will serve as a sort of Dashboard Confessional, Secondhand Serenade kind of identity, where he's a solo artist, but can also be a band under the right circumstances.

Bair's new MySpace is here, which shows off the more Costello-edged "Tip of My Tongue" and "Cigarette Kisses."

PHOTO: Matthew Bair as The Sequel.