1. Mumford & Sons: The lads from Britain land the biggest-selling first-week sales of any album this year as “Babel” sells 600,000 copies. Enjoy while it lasts, boys, Taylor Swift will blow past that with “Red”s” Oct. 22 bow.
2. Adele: “Skyfall” falls right to the top of the iTunes chart mere minutes after its release. Could it debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 based on only four days of airplay and sales?
3. Psy: It looks like the South Korean rapper is going to ride “Gangnam Style” all the way to the top of Billboard Hot 100 next week (unless Taylor Swift or Adele are album to stop him). He will forever join the ranks of the Macarena and Lambada. And we all remember the names of the two artists who had those hits, right?
4. Foo Fighters: The band signs off for a hiatus, but leader Dave Grohl assures the world that they aren”t breaking up and that he loves the band as much as the rest of us do
5. The Replacements: The much-beloved Minneapolis alternative band reunites for a charity EP to help ailing former drummer Slim Dunlap. Maybe they can convince the Smiths to get back together.
6. Rush: The Canadian power trio finally gets what its millions of fans have been clamoring for for more than a decade: a nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Can we have “A Show Of Hands” of who thinks they should get in?
7. Justin Bieber: After yakking on stage on the opening night of the “Believe” tour, he comes to Los Angeles for two sold-out shows at Staples Center. If photos on my FB and Twitter pages are any indication, he, no doubt, spent more time taking photos with every celeb”s young daughter than he did on stage.
8. “American Idol”: Does it matter if the Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey fight footage was staged? Whether real or fake, it managed to get the focus squarely on “American Idol” again and away from its competitors. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
9. Viva Digital: Digital album sales are up 15% over this time period last year. It”s still not enough to put the overall market ahead of this time last year, but it probably means that your grandma has finally learned how to download her favorite Susan Boyle album.
10. The Beatles: Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles” first single, “Love Me Do.” And the world changed forever. Thank you seems inadequate.