Doesn't the sustained devaluation of the Grammy result in artists and fans not really giving a fuck any longer, about "winning one"?
Doesn't Jethro Tull winning the inaugural award for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category in 1989, reveal the worthlessness of this charade, when Tull defeated authentic metal like Metallica, or other nominees like AC/DC, Iggy Pop, and Jane's Addiction?
Didn't Milli Vanilli's victory back in 1990 when they "won" the Best New Artist Award, complete the Grammys' descent into oblivion?
Granted that thin group of nominees were comprised of Neneh Cherry, Indigo Girls, Soul II Soul, and Tone Lōc, but at least those nominees were artists that performed their own material (granting samples by Loc and Soul).
In truth, I'm drawn to the performers, far more than the winners.
Live performance of music really turns me on.
It's what makes these awards shows, worth their while.
I think back to previous shows, and honestly, the first performance I think of was Pink performing "Glitter in the Air" at the 2010 ceremony. Her performance moved me to tears. I still go back and watch, every now-and-then.
Or last years' collaboration between Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar where they mashed-up "Maad City" & "Radioactive". Tremendous energy and excitement....just like a live performance is supposed to be.
Back in 2009, Radiohead did a really cool version of 15 Step with the USC marching band.
These were all amazing performances that stuck to my ribs.
Sunday night, the 2015 Grammy Awards show had a few rib-sticking moments, too.
Lennox killed once she got going, to the point where Hozier could only hold on to her coattails and ride out the Divalicious force that is Anne Lennox.
Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani were ok as a live performance; her vocals were off here-and-there.
It seemed to be a tough key to sing the verse without hitting some sour notes.
The studio version is better.
I am, however, very drawn to the lyrics of this tune.
I know the tumult of love and the heartache we are all exposed to by loving another with everything we have to offer. I have felt and even spoken these words before, so there's a strong resonance here.
I know you're scared
I can feel it
It's in the air, I know you feel that too
But take a chance on me
You won't regret it, no
One more "no" and I'll believe you
I'll walk away and I will leave you be
And now's the last time you'll say no, say no to me
It won't take me long to find another lover
But I want you
I can't spend another minute getting over loving you
If you've been through it, then you've also been to the brink of giving up on love; A place of hurt and anguish.
In contrast, Lady Gaga sounded pitch-perfect, in her duet with Legendary crooner Tony Bennett. They sang "Cheek to Cheek", from their album of jazz-standards-turned-duets, that shares the same name.
In a night filled with honoring questionable talent and musicianship and performances, Gaga delivered on another chance to show the world what her little monsters already know; Lady Gaga is more than a dance beat in a meat dress. She has incredible pipes and the talent and skill to control them.
Which brings me to Kanye West. Forget about his penchant for disrupting the moments of others and stealing the spotlight.....the guy cannot sing without Auto Tune. He has a vivid imagination and he's clearly a creative force-to-be-reckoned-with when producing himself or others.
But he is NOT a singer. Not when he's completely dependent on a machine to help him sound like he's hitting the notes and singing in-tune.
It makes his never-ending petulance even harder to tolerate, since he always targets artists getting recognition for something he's not good at.
Post-show, Kanye was quoted as saying:
I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain't gonna play with them no more. And Beck needs to respect artistry and he should've given his award to Beyonce.
Any interested party can objectively say that Beck IS, in fact, an incredibly talented and versatile artist with a tremendous depth in his musicianship.
Here's my favorite Beck cut doing what Kanye does, as good or better than Kanye, a tune called "Hell Yes" from the Guero album.
Ed Sheeran's performance with John Mayer (and his nod to Buddy Holly), Questlove of the Roots, and the venerable Herbie Hancock, was exactly what I tune into the Grammys to see and hear; great musicians collaborating together, in combinations that I wouldn't think of combining. They performed Sheeran's own "Thinking Out Loud" before Sheeran moved onto his next performance with another musical legend.
I love 70's classic rock, and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) has massive contributions to the cannon. Founder and lead singer Jeff Lynne was terrific on "Evil Woman" where Sheeran joined for that jam and "Mr. Blue Sky" as well.
And it was fun seeing Sir Paul McCartney give his approval by standing up and jamming through the whole performance (until the cameras got into his mug and he got sheepish and sat down. Really Sir Paul? Stay on your feet and Ram On)!
Usher did an incredible vocal on Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic".
The tune comes from "Songs In The Key of Life", Stevie's masterwork, double-album that's filled with more artistry than what some are able to produce in their entire career. Stevie did it all in one album.
Makes me even MORE JACK UP to see him perform the album live, here in Minnesota, at the end of March.
Now to my hot-button issue: Sam Smith
I really enjoyed his performance with Mary J. Blige.
She's amazing and soulful and I loved when she sang "One" with U2, back in 2006, so this pairing made sense.
My issue with Sam Smith, is that he won all the grammys that he did.
The total count was four (4) and he won them for best new artist, song of the year and record of the year for Stay with Me, and best pop vocal album for "In the Lonely Hour."
I have no problem with him winning best new artist, or being honored for the full album.
However, I think it's ridiculous to honor him for a song that he's tacitly admitted is borrowed from another artists' original work.
The song that he took two (2) Grammys for (and arguably the basis for all the awards he won) "Stay With Me" is a world-wide smash and it borrows closely from the 1989 Tom Petty tune "I Won't Back Down".
Is it almost "sampling"? Listen for yourself....
For me, it was the elephant-in-the-room, and Smith had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing by acknowledging Petty and his contribution to Smith's success.
The song’s credit on ASCAP — that’s the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers —Smith, Petty, Lynne, and Jimmy Napes as the chief songwriters.
Seems to me this legal admission precludes Smith's work from consideration, OR, Petty, Lynne and Napes each deserve 1/4 of the trophies given to Smith, that solely credit Smith with the groups' collective work.
Can't end without mention of Prince, right?
Being a HUGE fan of The Kid, I keep an eye on various internet chat-rooms and fan threads, and there was a ton of momentum towards the speculation that His Purple Badness was going to perform at the Grammys; with a reformed Revolution to boot.
Alas, he was only there to give the award for Album of the Year, which Beck won, raising Kanye's ire, in defense of Beyonce being slighted by Beck's win (or so Yeezy felt).
Yes, that last sentence was a convoluted mess...much like the situation I'm trying to describe.
I'd also be remiss to not mention a favorite group of mine called Pentatonix.
They rose to international fame from the a capella singing show called The Sing-Off.
Sunday night they won their first Grammy for Best Arrangement/Instrumental.
They were on stage with my hero, Barry Gibb, to honor the life-time achievement of the Brothers Gibb, known as The Bee Gees. He even acknowledged them in his speech.
I still assert, speaking of landmark performances, that Pentatonix best performance ever was their cover of Florence and The Machine's "The Dog Days Are Over".
It's so talented and beautifully sung, well, see/hear for yourself.
Overall, this years' show was underwhelming, but I'll keep watching for the potential that each new year has. Like Pink dangling from the ceiling, getting dunked into a pool of water, while beautifully singing note after note, while spinning around like a gyroscope.
Yep, that really happened once.
At a Grammy Awards Ceremony.
Can't wait for next year.
Maybe Kanye will interrupt himself?
These are Things I Think.
Ed Sheeran's performance with John Mayer (and his nod to Buddy Holly), Questlove of the Roots, and the venerable Herbie Hancock, was exactly what I tune into the Grammys to see and hear; great musicians collaborating together, in combinations that I wouldn't think of combining. They performed Sheeran's own "Thinking Out Loud" before Sheeran moved onto his next performance with another musical legend.
I love 70's classic rock, and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) has massive contributions to the cannon. Founder and lead singer Jeff Lynne was terrific on "Evil Woman" where Sheeran joined for that jam and "Mr. Blue Sky" as well.
And it was fun seeing Sir Paul McCartney give his approval by standing up and jamming through the whole performance (until the cameras got into his mug and he got sheepish and sat down. Really Sir Paul? Stay on your feet and Ram On)!
Usher did an incredible vocal on Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic".
The tune comes from "Songs In The Key of Life", Stevie's masterwork, double-album that's filled with more artistry than what some are able to produce in their entire career. Stevie did it all in one album.
Makes me even MORE JACK UP to see him perform the album live, here in Minnesota, at the end of March.
Now to my hot-button issue: Sam Smith
I really enjoyed his performance with Mary J. Blige.
She's amazing and soulful and I loved when she sang "One" with U2, back in 2006, so this pairing made sense.
My issue with Sam Smith, is that he won all the grammys that he did.
The total count was four (4) and he won them for best new artist, song of the year and record of the year for Stay with Me, and best pop vocal album for "In the Lonely Hour."
I have no problem with him winning best new artist, or being honored for the full album.
However, I think it's ridiculous to honor him for a song that he's tacitly admitted is borrowed from another artists' original work.
The song that he took two (2) Grammys for (and arguably the basis for all the awards he won) "Stay With Me" is a world-wide smash and it borrows closely from the 1989 Tom Petty tune "I Won't Back Down".
Is it almost "sampling"? Listen for yourself....
For me, it was the elephant-in-the-room, and Smith had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing by acknowledging Petty and his contribution to Smith's success.
In fact, Smith and his camp settled with the song writers of "I Won't Back Down"
The settlement reportedly included a 12.5% writing credit to both Petty and the aforementioned Jeff Lynne of ELO fame. The song’s credit on ASCAP — that’s the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers —Smith, Petty, Lynne, and Jimmy Napes as the chief songwriters.
Seems to me this legal admission precludes Smith's work from consideration, OR, Petty, Lynne and Napes each deserve 1/4 of the trophies given to Smith, that solely credit Smith with the groups' collective work.
Can't end without mention of Prince, right?
Being a HUGE fan of The Kid, I keep an eye on various internet chat-rooms and fan threads, and there was a ton of momentum towards the speculation that His Purple Badness was going to perform at the Grammys; with a reformed Revolution to boot.
Alas, he was only there to give the award for Album of the Year, which Beck won, raising Kanye's ire, in defense of Beyonce being slighted by Beck's win (or so Yeezy felt).
Yes, that last sentence was a convoluted mess...much like the situation I'm trying to describe.
I'd also be remiss to not mention a favorite group of mine called Pentatonix.
They rose to international fame from the a capella singing show called The Sing-Off.
Sunday night they won their first Grammy for Best Arrangement/Instrumental.
They were on stage with my hero, Barry Gibb, to honor the life-time achievement of the Brothers Gibb, known as The Bee Gees. He even acknowledged them in his speech.
I still assert, speaking of landmark performances, that Pentatonix best performance ever was their cover of Florence and The Machine's "The Dog Days Are Over".
It's so talented and beautifully sung, well, see/hear for yourself.
Overall, this years' show was underwhelming, but I'll keep watching for the potential that each new year has. Like Pink dangling from the ceiling, getting dunked into a pool of water, while beautifully singing note after note, while spinning around like a gyroscope.
Yep, that really happened once.
At a Grammy Awards Ceremony.
Can't wait for next year.
Maybe Kanye will interrupt himself?
These are Things I Think.
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