I really like Easy Love by Sigala. I think it's such an uplifting dance track and the video with the dancing kids is brilliant.

It's the fact that garbage like House Every Weekend got to #1 that makes me quiver. Of all the dance songs released this year, that made it to #1?

Anyways, regarding Forever Young I sent Jack a message on Facebook yesterday:


The reply?


OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! *.*

Recent uploads:

Megan and Shelby show (when Sarah-Michelle went to see Nicholas McDonald)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1TciaDpYQI
Published on Sep 18, 2015

Nicholas McDonald - Concert For Caden - 12/09/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQEYeXzdwE
Published on Sep 15, 2015

I guess there are worse ways to spend a day .....

https://twitter.com/nickymcdonald1/s...95990611845120

LOL

Gonna keep an eye on both Nicky's and Jack's Facebook pages. We might get some behind the scenes footage at some point.

Hope they do a cracking video for the song.

Nicky was in Aberdeen this weekend and someone has kindly posted a clip ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHSlatt1hMc

And yes, we do all have chandeliers in Aberdeen

I didn't get down because I have a new puppy and a new lawn being laid and all in all, life just got in the way. No matter, he got a good reception judging by the reaction on Twitter etc

He did a radio interview the day after, a very sleepy interview I have to say, but he did manage to reiterate that the album will be out at the start of next year with a single by the end of this year, which isn't that far away now I think of it. He also said he was spending a lot of time on the album and a lot of work was being done on it to get it just perfect, which is exactly what he should be doing imo. Happy days

Awww, this is rather lovely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=975SpNQ5ZIw

A bit of a blast from the past, but he does sing ITAOAA sooooo beautifully. Well chosen by the YouTube in question.

Indeed, very good choice of music even though I'm not really sure what the footage is about. Is it to do with the moon they discovered on Mars?

OT; if you look at his profile picture, he looks like a proper lad. Then you click to see what other videos he's uploaded and it's all Celine Dion videos.

Haha, have you been down a hole? I think it's footage of the supermoon lunar eclipse, or blood moon, which was seen globally the other night and won't be seen for another 33 years. I don't know buttons about astronomy but even I heard about it

Anyway, it was nice of the Céline fan to choose Nicky's version over all the others out there and it was nice to listen to it again. It's easy to lose sight of just how well Nicky can sing, and how good his voice is when all we have are wee clips from gigs etc as we wait for the second album. I might just go play the whole ITAOAA again today, introduce my puppy to some real music

After XF comes the hard work:
- secure the (acquired) position on the market
- build the (new) foundations for what one plans to develop

Here is some news about Sam Callahan's approach:
...."This release is so exciting for me. It’s been an amazing couple of years since I did X Factor but after leaving the show it was difficult to know which direction to go in. They tried to change me by turning me into a stereo typical X Factor clone and I feel they took away my edge. I also got given a lot of conflicting advice which left me a bit disorientated and made me question myself.
“But what I did know was that I have written my own music since I was 13 and I was determined to get it out there. Finally everything has come together and I’m very excited about releasing my own material. This is my own sound and I really hope people like its honesty."...

debut EP on Nov 15.

http://www.callahanofficialmusic.com...se-140915/cvsz

Isn't there a Sam Callahan Appreciation Thread on these forums? lol

Well, here's a rather curious state of affairs in the UK album chart.

As you know I've been monitoring the sales climate (as it continues to dwindle) and refer back to when In The Arms Of An Angel was released last year.

So, as mentioned countless times Nicky's debut album In The Arms Of An Angel sold 11,299 in its first week. So, let's have a look at this weeks UK top 5 album chart.

1. Rudimental - We The Generation (22,718)
2. Ed Sheeran - X (11,299)
3. Jess Glynne - I Cry When I Laugh (11,171)
4. David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock (11,001)
5. Editors - In Dream (9,163)

That's right, Nicky's sales of 11,299 are exactly the same as what Ed Sheeran's album sold over the last 7 days to climb back to #2!!!

...and as I'm always trying to be realistic, if Nicky's second album was to sell a two thirds of what Angel sold, that would give sales of 8,474 which in this weeks chart would put Nicky at #7.

It is going to be intriguing as well as interesting to see just how well Nicky does with his second album.

Summer Nights was released on Friday, getting to no 3 on iTunes dance charts, which is not too shabby at all. Jack has put the ad on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Xy7mYNHf4

It'll be interesting to see the progress of release of singles and vt's now the album is out, especially Forever Young obviously

A nice write up for Summer Nights

http://www.rockfm.co.uk/music/featur...s-debut-album/

My only issue with Forever Young is Nicky's vocals in the chorus. He sounds so mature in the verses, I almost didn't recognise his voice the first time I previewed the song.

The chorus just grates on me a little despite being really catchy. I really do think Nicky could sing that chorus better than whats been used on the final mix.

Then again, I think the female vocals on House Every Weekend are atrocious, and that was a UK #1 single so what do I know?

Summer Nights dropped out of the dance album top 20 but is back at 10 this morning, which is happy news. A wee clip from STV with Jack and Nicky, with a taste of the FY video which is pleasingly natural. Don't know if this is the finished version but it looks very watchable ...

http://player.stv.tv/video/pcs/river...2Fjackeyejones

Nicky and David also put up a cover of Lay Me Down, which is doing well on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/50541660614...type=2&theater

Thanks for the link.

I was at the Ramada in Paisley Monday and Tuesday night earlier this week, but I got only bbc, itv and sky on the TV in my room, and one boring cultural program marked "stv", but no "stv glasgow".
STV player worked there on my portable though, but with frozen stops because of the narrow bandwith of the WiFi.
I'm glad I can see the interview without stops now. Thanks.

It's time for another pointless UK album chart sales comparison. So, here's this weeks top 3 albums.

1. Faithless - Faithless 2.0 (12,341)
2. Ed Sheeran - X (10,677)
3. Jess Glynne - I Cry When I Laugh (10,413)

Album sales really horrendous this week with no major new releases culminating with Faithless taking full advantage and topping the chart with...12,341!!! Music Week reports this is the second worst sales for a #1 album since Rihanna sold just over 9k to top the album chart with Talk That Talk.

Last week, Ed Sheeran's sales were exactly the same as what Nicky sold in early 2013. This week X only sold 10,677 to remain as #2.

As I've mentioned several times, if Nicky was to release his new album and sell 11,299 in his first week, those sales would be enough to put Nicky at #2 in this weeks chart.

I'm still curious as to how well the second album will do because there are without doubt a couple of cracking songs on there that I've already heard. Still no mention of a new single which looks less likely to be a possibility as time goes on.

Before we know it, it'll be 2016 and then it'll be a case of seeing if this album even gets released. I'm hoping the album not only gets released, but that Nicky can utilise everything he can (signings, TV promo, etc...) to promote his album when its released. Last year he had The X Factor tour to help promote his album, so he would need to promote his new album to make people aware the album is out. Posting it on Facebook and Twitter wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

Still, if 8k buy the album and its released in a quiet week, Nicky could easily get a second top 10 album to his name.

A nice write up from a recent gig

http://www.totalmk.co.uk/gallery-non...y-allen-trust/

After the hideousness that was xf last night it is good to see positivity and enthusiasm.

Nicky has also put up another cover to keep us going until whatever is being released next is released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sppiB1VLXZk

Awesome!!!

The musical partnership between Nicky and David on guitar is great to see. I guess when you perform with someone who is a really good mate makes all the difference when performing.

If you go back and rematch that awkward acoustic performance of Answerphone Nicky did for Daybreak 18 months ago, you can tell how much Nicky's voice has developed since then. It probably didn't help that the musicians were probably roped in and looked bored senseless.

This cover of Drag Me Down might not be perfect (the "ooohhhs" after the chorus sound a little off to me) but the whole thing between Nicky and David works so well.

Long may this continue.

NB; is it wrong to say Nicky sings Niall's parts better than Niall does?

I think the 1D cover is a wee bit shouty myself? There are some lovely phrases in it, but at times it sounds like any young male discovering his own strength and not quite using it properly. All part of development and growing up etc etc, but Nicky has fabulous control over his voice and shouldn't leave that too far behind. All imho of course

In the press:
British holidaymaker run over on same dual-carriageway where Scots strip club owner was killed on his stag do
12:27, 23 Oct 2015 Updated 12:28, 23 Oct 2015 By Gerard Couzens
... Former Rangers manager Ally McCoist were among mourners at his funeral and X-Factor star Nicholas McDonald sung two of his favourite songs.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk...r-same-6689294

I don't think the position is that very important. It's nice on one's cv.
More important than "being nr 2" for Sheeran's "X" is that it's in the charts for 70 weeks.
I don't think RCA, or any other recording cy, are focusing on a one week shot.

I still think one should not focus on albums but on singles.
When I listen to the radio when car driving in continental Europe I hear "What do you mean?" three times an hour (so that I have to switch to an other station, where... I get it again).
But I even still get "Budapest" a couple of times a day.

Getting a good song, that does worldwide, is capital imho.

Remember back in May this year, Nicky and Lisa Hague attempted to sit on every seat at Celtic Park in a four day fund raising event for Marie Curie?

Well, Lisa has posted a nice video dairy of the whole thing on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwSfZHo8lgg

Things are quiet just now as we wait for the album next year, but a couple of very nice clips have popped up on Twitter and I thought I'd post them here to help us pass the time! The second has a cheering little message too

https://twitter.com/shannon_stobie/s...66948114763776

https://twitter.com/nickymcdonald1/s...69375996047364

The second clip is for the song Love Departed which spooling filmed at one of Nicky's gigs a few months back.

Having heard both Love Departed and also Love Again (which must be a year ago when Nicky first performed that song ) I've had a really good feeling about the album. I'm still not sold on So Easy though.

We've also not had the music video yet to Forever Young - the track he did with Jack Eye Jones in LA. I'm more surprised about this as the album has now been released and having the music video on YouTube could boost sales of the album. Even if people decided to just buy the track individually off the album.