There’s a catchy sexified pop song blazing up the charts, records are being broken, fans are anticipating what will surely be a smokin’ hot video. Oh, yeah.  It’s Britney Spears season!

Still not convinced? American Idol’s latest champ Kris Allen recently covered Brit’s debut hit “Baby One More Time” in concert and everyone in the audience was able to sing along to every word to the decade old song. That’s serious power!

With a greatest hits album entitled The Singles Collection on the way and all of the Brit Brit in the air, it was only fitting that we take a trip back in time to remember where it all began.

Hit us Britney one more time!

There’s all of this talk about Naturi Naughton, the actress/singer who is appearing in the remake to the classic, Fame, but die-hard fans of early 2000’s pop will remember Naturi as one third of the girl group 3LW.

3LW — or Three Little Women, not just a moniker they went with because they were young, but because they’re all petite in stature — included Naughton, and singers Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams, who are known more today as former Cheetah Girls than anything else.

The group followed the Destiny’s Child route to their semi-stardom: tell the world you’re close like sister, release catchy songs, dance great, look even greater; and perhaps thought they would mirror DC’s post-member change rise when they decided to dismiss Naughton from the group after the release of only two album as a trio. The dismissal included things as silly as a KFC food fight, to accusations of discrimination against Naughton’s dark complexion.

So now that Naturi is having the last laugh, lets remember her launching pad. Take a look at 3LW’s biggest hit, “Playas Gon’ Play” from their self-titled debut album.

Admit it, you completely squealed when the line-up for the returning VH1 Divas concert was released today. And why shouldn’t you be pumped? The VH1 Divas series always brought out some of the fiercest female talent of the moment. Former Divas included Mary J Blige, Jewel, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey and a solo Beyonce.

But before Beyonce’s 2003 solo appearance on Divas, she appeared on the series with her newly reformed group Destiny’s Child in 2000. Making one of their first appearances with then new members Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin, DC hit the stage and performed a tribute to Diana Ross singing her popular song Upside Down. They didn’t miss a beat!

After interviewing up-and-comer Eric Hutchinson for a Limelight Spotlight, the NL crew sat at the Hard Rock Cafe enjoying the sights, sounds, and food. As we chatted about how awesome Eric was (and how many times I uttered the word ‘awesome’ during the interview) we were quickly hushed when an acoustic performance of a familiar song started playing on the wall-mounted TVs. The song: “Freshman” by The Verve Pipe.

Remember back to 1997. Diddy was Puff Daddy. Mase was a hot rapper. Beyonce was just some girl in that new girl group with that “No, No, No” song. MTV was still playing music videos (sorta). And modern rock was alive and well and living mostly on VH-1. That’s where we discovered TVP.

The Michigan band had been around for many years but it was the haunting guitar riffs and cumbersome lyrics of “Freshman” that propelled them from the underground post-grunge scene to mainstream rock idols–if only for that year. Who knew a song about a teenage girl having an abortion then committing suicide would become such a cult classic? The success proved hard to follow-up as subsequent releases failed to live up to “Freshman”’s heights. Now, TVP quietly plays shows across the US but they’ll always have this smashing success.

OK. So, admittedly, this is a bit outside of the usual poppy goodness we post about here at Neon Limelight, but that’s the beauty of this site; our musical taste is all over the place, and hopefully a few of you will either remember this song with us or discover a hidden gem.

For some reason, people are looking at Kanye West’s switch from rapping to singing on his new album 808s and Heartbreak released this week, albeit layered with Auto-tune effects, like it’s something new for rappers to do. Rappers have seen “singing” the hooks to their own songs for a long time. Ja Rule was criticized like mad for doing it even though some of the rappers who flamed his name for it jumped on the bandwagon eventually.

Sure Ja’s singing voice could have used a little Auto-tune. The deep rasp always made me clear my throat just listening to it. But one rapper who did it and actually did a good job is Nelly. No effects needed. Nelly demonstrated his singing skills in 2002 when he ripped a performance of his hit “Dilemma” with Kelly Rowland on Saturday Night Live, full on singing with runs and all (trust me I tried to find the video online, but no luck).

He must have been inspired by the rave reviews from fans because on his album Suit (the companion album to 2004’s Sweat), he started to sing more and more. He doubled his talents with country singer Tim McGraw and ended up having one of the surprise hits of 2005 with “Over and Over.”

Remember the moistness with me below:

I almost thought to dedicate this week’s Neon Rewind to Beyonce seeing how her third and most ambitious album, I Am…Sasha Fierce, hit stores this week. But, honestly, who isn’t just a wee bit Beyonced out right now? *raises hand*

She has, however, inspired the selection of this week’s video. All this talk of singers and their alter-egos got me to thinking about another singer who took having an alter-ego to a new level: Garth Brooks. The country superstar is a certified legend and was already crossing legendary status when he decided he would let his alter-ego, Chris Gaines, release an entire album in 1999. You ’member, ‘member? 

Unlike Sasha Fierce, Gaines was a complete departure from his default personality. His music was decidedly more pop than country and he even had a completely different image (complete with some wickedly bad hair and tight, tight pants). The critics panned the idea and most took it out on the album, The Life of Chris Gaines, but the lead single “Lost In You” became one of my favorite songs.

Take a walk down memory lane or discover Chris Gaines for the first time below. You’ll swoon like crazy–or atleast your alter-ego will.

It’s Halloween! Have a happy one, folks! This is a great holiday–it isn’t truly a holiday because you don’t get the day off work or school, so how can you truly consider it one? But you get to eat candy and dress up. While you’re trickin’ (….) and treatin’ and eatin’ all of that tooth-rotting goodness you collected by pretending to be a big 12-year-old, come enjoy a few videos that are sure to keep you in a spooky mood all weekend long.

No. We’re not going to get all cliche and play Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (which I’ve heard at least six times today. Gosh, can’t radio stations be original!?) No “Ghostbusters” and no “Monster Mash.” Sorry! We worship current pop so the oldest “rewind” on our playlist was released in 2000. Not all videos are scary. They might have some awesome frequent costume changes, dark concept, or be just plain creepy.

Stone Temple Pilots – Sour Girl: We love this video because it’s dark but Scott Weiland’s harmonious dance moves comfort us from those creepy ass big head Teletubbies swagger-jackers. And hello! A raven-haired Sarah Michelle Gellar? Winner!

Chris Brown – Wall to Wall: Sure, Chris clearly wanted this video to be a Halloween staple like the aforementioned Jackson vid. And although we love him like the Snickers Mini’s we’re consuming at an addict’s rate, we have to mark this one with a big F for fail since the song doesn’t match the mood. But dangit! The kid tried! We like his effort.

Rihanna – Disturbia: You knew this one was coming, right? Well hey! Rihanna really put together a great scary time video for this time of year. We’re undecided on her “Thriller” grade, but we know it’ll be higher than Chris’s. “Disturbia” has one big thing going for it that’ll rank it higher–like “Thriller” no one really knows what the hell the song “Disturbia” is about. Win!

Christina Aguilera – Fighter: What’s not to love about a video where Christina Aguilera is a creepy butterfly then a creepy….Geisha Girl? We never really knew what she was supposed to be at the end of the video but it creeped us out, so we loved it.

Kerli – Walking on Air: This Estonian goddess came right out the box delivering a Halloween video classic from her debut album Love is Dead release in July of this year. Creepy singing dolls are always welcomed on the 31st of October.

Britney Spears – Toxic: Ok. True. There is nothing remotely creppy or scary about this video (except maybe that big dude making out with Britney). But Brit’s wardrobe changes inspired Halloween costumes for years. That deserves a post up!

My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade: This is by far one of our favorite videos, not just for the holiday but, like, ever. It’s dark, a bit morbid–it’s just freakin’ awesome. The elephant-faced chick totally freaks us out but still, awesome.

All this talk about the breakup of Danity Kane this week got me to thinking about Diddy’s first R&B/Pop female group, Dream. You ‘member, ‘member? The members Holly Blake, Diana Ortiz, Ashley Poole, and Melissa Schuman were a quartet of unnaturally cute and talented teen girls. Their first single “He Loves You Not” was a TRL staple (they opened on the TRL tour for headliners Destiny’s Child in 2001) and also topped the Billboard Hot 100. Their album It Was All A Dream even went platinum.

But just like all teen groups, members eventually got bitten by the solo bug. Melissa left the group to pursue an acting career and was soon replaced by Kasey Sheridan. With the new group set, the girls got to work on their sophomore album for Bad Boy.

Their first single “Crazy” featuring another Bad Boy casualty, rapper Loon, from their album Reality featured a video of a newly sexed up version of Dream. This version failed to connect to a new audience and alienated their still teen fanbase. Their sophomore set was shelved and the girls found themselves going the way of many other Bad Boy acts: down the pooper.

Though I was turned off by the video for “Crazy,” the song was still pretty awesome, and I was a big fan of Dream. So, imagine my delight when I found out that three of Dream’s original members (Diana, Ashley, and Melissa) formed a new group called Lady Phoenix (more on them to come) and they’re working on a new album.

Let’s remember Dream fondly while we pray for Danity Kane whose career is on Bad Boy life support.

Check under the cut for Dream’s first video, “He Loves You Not.”

Remember when Destiny’s Child lost (or let go of…depends on who you believe) 2 members and quickly found 2 more in 2000? New hire Farrah Franklin quickly faded into the background and on out of the group, leaving the final and arguably most popular version of the super group: Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.

Two years later, the girls decided to try their hand at solo projects for the first time with Michelle leading the bunch. She went back to her gospel roots and released the soulful Heart To Yours.  The album’s first single was the amazing track, Heard A Word.

The love for Destiny’s Child and its members runs deep here at Neon Limelight so stan out with us a little as we celebrate Unexpected week with a look back at Michelle’s very first solo vid then take a peak under the cut for the video that introduced us to that coo coo crazy chica, Destiny’s Child’s Say My Name.

It’s no secret: the music industry is about 30% talent, 70% looks. OK, so I did no scientific research to come up with those statistics but you can agree that it’s pretty accurate. That formula leaves a lot of great artists in the dark. So was the case with the 2002 debut of a quirky, long-haired, shaggy-looking guy named Thicke. He didn’t have much of a fashion sense and his hair was about five years overdue for a clipping, but there was no denying that velvety smooth voice.

When the video for his first single, “When I Get Your Alone,” came out, it completely went over everyone’s heads. They were so distracted by his look, they didn’t bother to take the time to listen to what he had to offer. There was also an issue with where the video would fit in–no one was really sure how to categorize the song. It got a few spins on VH1, he performed it on Showtime at the Apollo and faded into the background not much later.

Everyone knows the story of how Robin Thicke reemerged (now using his first name, too) with a groomed face, low-cut hair, and chic style. And, thank goodness, the voice was still there–it was just in a prettier package. Who knew that six years later, Thicke would still be around to release his third album, Something Else, this week. Let’s go back in time and see how we almost missed out on something great.