5 Things I Learned While Live-Blogging the Grammys
Like most of America, I’ve spent plenty of time badmouthing the Grammys over the past few years without pausing to reflect much on the fact that I rarely watch the show. So this year would have to be different. The wife and I sat down and braved the three-plus hour spectacle to see if Adele could single-handedly save a moribund award show on sheer moxie alone, even while performing for the first time since undergoing vocal chord surgery. Hey, she’s “saved” the record industry with her album 21, hasn’t she? Why should the Grammys be different?
Here are five things which we learned in abundance from this year’s telecast (not counting the fact that the show could have easily been trimmed by an hour without missing a beat).
#5. Adele has to be the most unassuming superstar in years.
Adele appearing on 60 Minutes prior to the Grammy telecast.
She still sees herself as an underdog, despite having sold three times as many albums last year as her next closest competitor. And she proved that her voice is truly enough when she had the balls to come out tonight and make her first performance since her vocal chord surgeries take place in front of millions. More important, she knocked the ball out of the park, laying bare a powerhouse performance at the heart of the show which was only approached in quality by the Whitney Houston tribute later in the hour by Jennifer Hudson. Adele was by far the biggest winner of the night in more ways than awards can quantify. And if there’s much market she hasn’t saturated with 21 prior to the show, it’s only clearer now that once she actually gets to hit the road and tour to support it, the album’s only going to get bigger.
Here’s a link to the police description of Chris Brown’s beating of Rihanna.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606481/chris-brown-police-report-provides-details-altercation.jhtml
Exactly. There’s no reason there shouldn’t have been more outrage at the time about the domestic violence, and there’s no reason America should have to forgive Brown three years later and welcome the violent man into our homes just because he sold albums.
Reading that police report is exactly why I never have, did not, nor ever will watch any of these phonies pat each other on the back or pay money for their music (that’s why God invented file-sharing.) A good deal of these jerks (Brown) are truly evil scumbags who deserve to be locked up for their crimes. Yeah Adele has a decent voice and Foo Fighters have always rocked, but they don’t deserve three hours of my attention.
The whole subject of wife abuse has been covered up in the depiction of Whitney Houston’s death, now a spectacle like the Grammies. I wrote about it here: http://clarespark.com/2012/02/13/whitneys-spectacular-demise/.
So, you’re stealing property with apparently no compunction, blaspheming God as you brag about it, and they are the evil ones?
One hundred years from now, people will still be listening to Steely Dan. Radiohead, probably. Eminem, no chance. Should the Grammy’s be “most currently popular” or should they include at least some semblance of recognizing lasting quality? The Grammy’s try to do both, and boy do they have a tough time because the overall quality of popular music is getting worse. Virtually the entirety of hip hop and rap is rap with a c in front. Beethoven’s 9th is simply better than any rap song ever written regardless of how many more people attend a Kanye West concert than attend the symphony.
To prove my point, try finding a Beatles or Led Zepplin album at a second hand CD store. Then try finding a Mariah Carey album.
Might have to do with qualified demand over supply, too. Everybody that wants the Beatles, has ‘em. Mariah Carey, on the other hand……..
Did find a copy of ‘Rubber Soul’ the other day at the pawn shop for a buck. Didn’t buy it as I heard enough of ‘Rubber Soul’ to serve me for a lifetime……’>………..
i’ve been a foos fan – from afar – their whole career although i have never bought one of their records
they always had great songs/videos along the way and have adapted very well to the changes in the industry
they have their dockumentary “back and forth” on all the time on vh1 classic and palladia and they did a youtube release of their most recent record performed straight through in the studio: http://www.scpr.org/blogs/newmedia/2011/04/15/2868/foo-fighters-release-youtube-performance-their-ent/
good for adele as well– she has a great voice and comes across as very honest
fwiw both my wife and mom know some of her material and this is proof her music is connecting with all kinds of people
another example of the foos’ genius of promotion and marketing was their garage tour
there are tons of youtubes of some really good performances from this so i wont bother with spamming them here
I’m only 33 years old and already amazed at the ignorance of “kids these days”.
I must admit, and I don’t know why, it gave me pleasure to see Adele own Lady Gagme, who never got to go on stage with her silly outfit!
You forgot to put the capital “C” in front of rap.
You can gripe about Steely Dan beating out Eminem but in that in the Dan was belatedly recognized for a career of some the greatest music that was never properly awarded by the Grammies. Think of it as a “lifetime achievement” award and just move the hell on.
True, they did wait until Steely Dan were actually dead before honoring them.
Jonathan Sanders, do you seriously want to make a case that Eminem, Kanye West, or Jay Z are more musically talented than Steely Dan or Radiohead?
Excuse me while I go off in a corner and laugh so hysterically I have a hard time catching my breath.
Rap and Hip Hop DESERVE to be marginalized. If they want to give them awards for their own category, I’m fine with it…but they shouldn’t even be nominated for “album of the year” or any other category where they might face people with, you know, actual musical talent.
As for the Steely Dan and Radiohead awards, I’d like to think that Grammy awards are occasionally given out based on merit and not record sales. If that weren’t true, I guess musical sewage like Eminmen, Jay Z, and Kanye would win EVERY year. Well, except for maybe 2011.
So here’s what I take away from this year’s Grammys: sell enough records and stultifying mediocrity, women beating and drug addiction are all a-okay.
The truth of the matter is that close your eyes and forget the outfits or “buzz” and there is little to choose from between the elevator music of Celine Dion, Adele and Lady Gaga. If all the Grammy’s are is a popularity contest than what is the point. Let’s have an awards show called “Gatekeepers” where there is at least some kind of nod to what SHOULD be listened cuz we already know what people ARE listening to and the news is not good.
“The Grammys continue to fail to understand how much they marginalize hip-hop and rap.”
“Hip-Hop” and cRap *should* be marginalized, because it’s not music. It’s garbage.
Thanks for a great article on a show that I have not watched for years.A lot of your points were informed and relevant.Hip Hop and Rap by no means my favorite genre are ignored and patronized.Don’t think it’s all black music either.I was stuck in the airport one night with an editor of Hip Hop or Rap magazine who told me that their circulation was mainly white.So there isn’t even the traditional reason for shoving them in the back room.
I just wish some honesty would creep into these things.Who really wants to see Paul McCartny perform any more?
I want to see new vibrant talent that will rock you back in your seat.I love all kinds of live music and that’s what this show should be bringing through. Not all the platitudes and b.s.
Can’t get much more relevant than Arcade Fire winning album of the year last year…and guess what? They know how to play instruments, and they know how to write melodies without sampling other people’s songs from 30 or 40 years ago. No auto-tune required.
Most of America looked at them and said, “Who?” but I thought it was great. Of course, some people think it would be edgy to give the award to someone like Eminem, who everyone has heard of, but who has less musical talent than your average fourth grade band student squeaking his or her way through “Hot Cross Buns.”
In fact AF can barely play their instruments and the phoney way they screw up their faces in fake emotion is a laugh. They’d qualify as a band for a back yard party.
Maybe.
They came and went pretty fast. Just as I predicted.
Actually, they can play their instruments. And even if they couldn’t, barely being able to play is better than not being able to play at all.
As for your “came and went” claim, AF hasn’t released an album since they won their award, genius.
No, they can’t play their instruments. Contrast their on-stage presence to Mad Dogs and Englishmen and tell me AF are relevant. People are still listening to Joe Cocker from one live tour over 40 years later. You’re telling me AF will have an impact with the next album? AF is all PC cool and no substance, exactly like Rage Against the Machine. Oh my, they’re angry about social injustice. They make ’60s hippies look like pragmatic rationalists.
AF are arguably the most politically correct band around and that’s saying something in a sea of PC boredom where such challenging and little known stands as Haiti or being against the mass murder of kittie cats is rife. You’d need a giant shoe horn to wring any real emotion or artistic integrity out of an AF performance. AF is a yuppie, scruffy version of “Up With People” for people who’ve never seen “Up With People.” Try Mannheim Steamroller on for size and don’t forget to let a little air out of the wheelchair cuz it gets pretty raucous.
Well, you could have made the same argument about what impact they’d have with their next album after The Neighborhood was released, and then they released Neon Bible. Of course, I’m sure you would have said their next album wouldn’t amount to anything…but they released The Suburbs, which was such a hit with fans and critics the world over that they won a Grammy for album of the year!
So, here you are, stamping your feet like a child, insisting how much they suck, how faux-everything they are, how they can’t play their instruments (despite obvious evidence to the contrary, like live footage of them actually, you know, playing their instruments), and how they have already “come and gone,” despite not even knowing when their last album was released.
You have a serious AF problem, don’t you? Are you one of those fans who insist their favorite band “sold out” just because other people discovered them? Or are you simply jealous that people aren’t bowing down to whoever YOU like or paying enough homage to Joe Cocker 40 years later (incidentally, did Joe Cocker even play an instrument on stage)?
Whatever the case may be, maybe you should learn a little more about whatever you post about before you actually post.
How much does it take to watch videos of AF and see they are not proficient at playing their instruments; it’s not like I have to hire a private dick. Edgar Winter and his mates are so far above a band like AF that one can say it must feel like a robbery to have to see Grammy’s given away to such stage muffins. AF’s lack of artistry grates on my ears and watching them is worse – I do not root for this band but root for them to disband – their are a thousand bands in this world far more deserving of attention from Jorge Aragao to Kathleen Edwards – at least their music is honest and doesn’t use fake political stands to puff up their profile.
I don’t listen to music based on who found it first, obscurity or selling out but based on whether I like it. I also don’t take my direction from whether a pig wears lipstick or wins a Grammy – it’s still a pig. Joe Cocker didn’t have to play an instrument; Mad Dogs and Englishmen wasn’t HIS band but A band – if he did play an instrument no doubt he wouldn’t have pretended to play a guitar backwards. May as well play the damn thing backwards for all the difference it makes in AF.
Actually AF never came in the first place so they are simply still gone. They will do well with middle class clueless drunks at Coachella. I’ve listened to a lot of music: AF is not innovative and certainly is not a band one thinks of as musician’s musician’s. They play their instruments like people who took music lessons and then quit and then picked them up again. AF’s arrangements are carefully constructed around what they can’t do musically, not what they can do; they hide their weaknesses and their strength is almost entirely built around fake rage and rebellion and political correctness. They are the OWS of the musical stage, all noise and no substance.
Actually, AF has a lot of respect from the musical peers, and the Grammy award shows it. No-talent, non-innovative hacks who simply rip off other artists and construct their songs to hide skill weakness simply do not win Album of the Year. Neither do artists that “never came in the first place so they are simply still gone.”
No, you are simply flat-out 100% wrong.
But you’re one of those people who simply can’t dislike something. In your mind, if YOU dislike it, it must be garbage – and therefore, no one else really likes it, either…and if they do, there’s something wrong with them. And you’ll even disregard reality and rationalize away all evidence to the contrary to hold on to your opinion. There are terms for people like you, but I’ll refrain from using any of them.
As it is, AF has the respect of their peers, the critics, their fans, and, last but not least, the most coveted award of the entire Grammy ceremony sitting on the shelf of their business office – no matter what YOU think about them. I can’t wait for their next record…but here’s some advice for you: stay away from the reviews. They might puncture that artificial reality you’ve built up for yourself and cause you to have a brain aneurysm. Wouldn’t want that, would we?
Interesting topics. My take:
#5. Adele proves opera will live eternal.
The voice is such an uplifting instrument through the ages that even singers of today’s indulged culture write siren songs to the infectious sensation of full-throated singing as cryptic lyrics transcend through emotion.
#4. Only a David Letterman booking conveys Foo Fighter cool.
The loudest and longest champion of Dave Grohl as been David Letterman, and the Grammys hate the Oscars, and their song nominees, for making him persona non grata as a host.
#3. Hate lyrics continue to marginalize hip-hop and rap.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. See political bundlers.
#2. One Hit Wonder status is not exclusive to Best New Artist winners but there’s been talk.
Niche marketing is fluid.
#1. Seeming to care is more important than living a life well lived. Honest.
Obama is finally ignoring all those women and girls in burkas forced to submit to female genital mutilation in sharia lands so the least the music industry can do is recall Chris Brown’s past anger management issues against a brown woman, but return tweets of Kabul’s music scene account does not equal caring.
My off topic list:
#5. Who are the guys in Lady Antebellum sleeping with? Their three year reign of country awards terror (in and outside of Nashville) does not befit their rotation or industry offspring member insulation.
#4. Lady Gaga was shut out. She was wearing a strange outfit with a type of cane. She was sitting in the front row and had numerous camera shots throughout the show with her last revealing her slumped (!) in her seat giving all the appearance of boredom and resigned to losing the number one media inked status. And no one is talking about any of it or talking about her at all.
#3. Paul McCartney couldn’t give two piano keys for America while his American wife was alive, and now that she is long dead and buried, and his children do not in any way identify with America, he cares for American accolades and social status? Trying to shape his legacy does not work with more bad music, and least of all a rip off of the American songbook.
#2. Adele was in need of a handkerchief and vocalized as much with seven men on stage and not one was proffered. Maybe men no longer carry such a gentlemanly item in their pockets. The host, L.L. Cool J (it stands for Loves the Ladies!) who approached the mic after her, could not be bothered to even offer his pocket square (one assumes it was not a fake). Well, niceties between the sexes may be dead but at least Obama has mandated free contraception for women so more men need not wear a condom. No longer is it, “Ribbed for her pleasure” but “No child support for her pleasure.” Music industry — drugs, sex and rock-n-roll — worthy of L.L. Cool J’s constant lip smacking, no?
#1. If your host opens the show making a statement that your show is all about the music then I suspect you wouldn’t have to be making statements about being all about the music if you were. Fail, for most performances were all about their statement value and not the music. You’ve come a long way video vixen to international branding and product placement.
Not just the Grammys, but all the award ceremonies too me are nothing more than a bunch of Hollywood liberals slapping each other on the back and, telling each other how really great they are, I never watch because I can’t stand that kind of self aggrandizing, no wonder most of them are strung out and, dying of drugs abuse.
I hear Adele is making a new CD with Christopher Cross