The Beat: New releases of old songs topping the charts

The best thing about the release this week of the new/old Michael Jackson song “This Is It”? That Paul Anka might finally get some Grammy cred.

The worst thing? That it would be for this forgettable, fizz-less trifle.

The Grammy-less Anka, the wizard behind such gems as the theme music for “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and Frank Sinatra’s signature “My Way” (Anka wrote the English lyrics), quickly addressed the Jackson estate this week, hours after “This Is It” was released online, to claim his co-writing credit.

The song, though reportedly recorded in the early ‘90s during the sessions for Jackson’s “Dangerous” album, was written in 1983 by Jackson and Anka under the title “I Never Heard.“

In 1991, the song was included on an album by Puerto Rican singer Sa-Fire.

A quick YouTube search proves that “I Never Heard” is basically the same song as “This Is It,“ but with a clip-clop beat that makes it sound like a mash-up with George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex.“

That makes it a livelier option than Jackson’s version, a cloud of finger snaps and swelling strings (a little “Man in the Mirror,“ a little “Will You Be There”) that is kind of like his Moonwalk — the illusion is more captivating than the reality.

With no key changes, no ascension into a chorus, no chord progressions, no oomph, the entirety of “This Is It” rests on a fluttering falsetto from Jackson.

But given the mania surrounding any tidbit unleashed by his estate — check out those advance sales for the upcoming “This Is It” movie — the song will be unavoidable for several months as Jackson’s fans cling to scraps of his memory. And come awards time — but not in 2010, since the Grammy deadline passed at the end of September — voters with every organization will feel required to venerate Jackson a final, official time.

Still, a better title for this song comes with a few rearranged words: “Is This It?“

Last week, Barbra Streisand shocked chart followers when “Love Is the Answer,“ her first album in four years, zipped past Mariah Carey, Paramore and a Madonna hits collection to bow at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

Makes sense when you remember that her fans are the only demographic still faithfully buying CDs (research shows the album had exceptional sales in nontraditional outlets, such as Starbucks).

But here’s an interesting trend: Streisand’s album, produced by Diana Krall, who also plays piano on the disc, is a sumptuous collection of standards.

“Make Someone Happy,“ “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and, especially, “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” are coated with an appealing sheen, while Streisand’s undiminished voice manages to find new ways of interpreting lyrics for maximum effect.

The week before Streisand’s unexpected splash, Harry Connick Jr. released “Your Songs,“ a sumptuous collection of standards, which debuted in the Billboard Top 10.

Music mogul Clive Davis assisted Connick in choosing the tunes (as if he needed any help, given his love of classics), and so we have a range from “Some Enchanted Evening” to Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” to Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” (Who picked that one? Not even Joel wants to sing it.)

And this week, drumroll please, Michael Bublé is the chart-winner with “Crazy Love,“ a sumptuous collection of ... OK, you get the point — although it’s his own “Haven’t Met You Yet” (not a cover) that is striking at adult contemporary radio.

Of this trio, Bublé, at 34, is the youngest, yet his appeal among housewives and grandmothers cannot be overstated.

Did anyone catch him slyly sneaking up on Hoda and Kathie Lee this week on the “Today” show with an impish grin that said, “I can charm anyone”?

And Bublé is a charmer. He’s also incredibly adept at making “Cry Me a River,“ “All of Me” and “Stardust” sound remarkably hip — much like his idol Connick continues to do.

So, what’s the moral here, folks?

Apparently that, as one Barry Manilow likes to sing, maybe the old songs bring back the old times — and, in these cases, new momentum.

Melissa Ruggieri is a staff writer at The Richmond Times-Dispatch