It's freakin' cold today. Six degrees cold. And there's snow, wind blown snow that needs to be gone. But it ain't leaving any time soon. I need warmth. I need palm trees, I need sun, and those of you who know me realize sunshine is not usually a priority in my life. I could use some today. Or in three weeks.
Three weeks. Twenty-one days, and I'll be leaving on a jet plane. Off to a warmer climate, though the temperature is really just a nice throw-in. No, the reason for me leaving the great state of New Jersey is to fly to Los Angeles. For the Grammy Awards. Yeah.
I'm going to the Grammy Awards. As I have mentioned several times on Kat's Theory of Music, I am part of Earth Hertz Records, and apparently there are some real nice perks. Getting invited to the Grammy Awards is one hell of a nice perk... don't you think? Yeah.
So on January 24th, I'll be flying into LA, and that night the fun begins with a pre-Grammy party. There will be a lot of people to meet, and at this point I'm still a bit overwhelmed. I'm just a writer of a little blog who somehow fell in with some extremely cool people, and together we have a vision for the record business. I'm not sure what made Robert & Eloa Xeno believe I would be the right fit for their company, and I don't even have the words to describe how happy I am that they did.
All arrangements are made, almost all the shopping is done. I have the dress and even more importantly because I will be on my feet for a very, very long time, I have the shoes. Hopefully the hair and nails will be done the day before, and I am begging Mother Nature to calm her ass down with this winter weather shit.
There will be lots to write about, and I hope to bring you all some sort of play-by-play on what it's really like to be Cinderella at the ball.
Just one last thing. Jumping into this record company adventure was a huge leap of faith, for them and me. I've always tried to listen to what my gut tells me. In this case it told me there was a possibility of a real fun journey, and it was all about music. I felt like I was just taking a new path home. If life opens a door, run through it before someone slams it in your face.
The 90's, Part 1. The decade when music officially started going down the shitter. Radio was the first. Slowly but surely any radio station that had programmers who thought outside the box, was either devoured by corporate chains and told what to play, or succumbed to low listenership, as pop and techno along with some grunge took over. Please hold your emails, I fully admit I do not worship at the altar of Curt Colbain. I'll grant he was good, but was his best behind him when he killed himself? We will never know. For my money, I'll take Michael Stipe anyday.
This was the decade that gave us such truly memorable crap such as the Macarena, MMMBop, U Can't Touch This and Whomp. I rest my case.
Anyway, I hadn't started getting heartburn from listening to the music just yet, that really began as the decade ended, but it was a decade where you had to really look for good music instead of just being able to hear it every time you turned on the radio.
So for Jen's Twisted MixTape Tuesday, Part 1 of the 90's, I've come up with what were some of the best of what was out there.
"I like a good beer buzz, early in the morning." How can you not love a song with a lyric like that? Sheryl Crow broke out with a song which could basically be a Mission Statement for a lot of us.
"All I Wanna Do"
R.E.M. were brilliant. End of story. Take your pick of seven or eight possible choices, but I'll go with what I think is the strongest.
"Losing My Religion"
At the age of forty, one of my favorite female singers showed all the boys how it's done, when in 1990, she won three Grammy awards for what would be considered her comeback album. In 1989, Bonnie Raitt released Nick of Time... which was and is still totally kick-ass. Hard to choose which song to go with, so let's just go with something called...
"Love Letter"
Time to have a little fun. If you're looking for an earworm along with some real fine harmonica playing, and who doesn't want that... I give you John Popper and Blues Traveler with...
"Runaround"
Over the years Carlos Santana has had many vocalists. In 1999, Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20 was the front man on a song he co-wrote. It was a huge hit, winning three Grammy Awards and was Billboard's #1 song for twelve weeks. Deservedly so, it's a great collaboration.
"Smooth"
Though he died in 1990, one year later his album The Sky is Crying was released. On it was one hell of a version of a Jimi Hendrix song, which if you've read this blog long enough, you know I believe it's hard to find a bad version of it. Stevie Ray's is superb.
"Little Wing"
So I'm only one over the official list of five. Thanks Jen, you run one loud and rowdy joint... I feel so at home.
A little folk, a little roots and a whole lot of nice listening. The Lumineers began as a group in Denver, created one really well done debut album and have been reaping the rewards of hard work ever since. Nominated for two Grammy awards, their first two singles "Ho Hey" and "Stubborn Love" have received a lot of commercial play.
One of those songs, "Ho Hey" is the choice of this week's 100 Word Song Challenge over at Lance's My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog. Since I've been meaning to showcase The Lumineers, this seemed as good a time as any. And because it's a pretty upbeat song, I didn't go over to the dark side. Maybe next week.
Using the song as a prompt, exactly 100 words later, here's what I came up with.
"Ho Hey"
Corner of Bowery and Canal; usually a good spot. Plenty of
tourists, and locals who were young and willing to help support their own.
Trey watched her get off the bus. The evening sun shone off
her auburn hair, her green eyes caught its fire. Who are you? He longed to scream “Hey,” but kept singing
instead.
“I belong with you, you belong with me.”
For an instant his voice drew her attention, until thoughts
of home or work or something more significant pulled her away.
Losing her in the rush hour crowd, Trey knew where he'd be singing tomorrow.
Yesterday, there were 81 Grammy Awards presented. And do you know how many were presented during the three and a half hour broadcast? Eleven. I'm sorry but it was called the Grammy Awards was it not? And yet they present eleven awards. If you were interested in anything remotely listed as Rock, Blues, Bluegrass or Classical, you were shit out of luck. Virtually all of these awards were handed out before air time.
So what did we get on the live show? Well, it started with the really annoying Taylor Swift complaining about another ex-boyfriend. Dancing and posturing onstage while surrounded by what looked to be the bastard children of Alice in Wonderland and the Ringling Brothers Circus. The bright spot... the show had to get better, didn't it?
Then it was time for some Fun. Yes. So why not let them sing and then drench them with indoor rain. All over the stage. Why? So raise your hand if you thought this was a good idea. Yeah, thought so.
Now about the boob ban. Well I've already talked about that on a post over at sprocketink.com, but there are a few comments to be made. Here's my initial thought. Holy shit, did the Grammys become a Miss Prude Contest? I have never seen so many smokin' hot women so covered up. Beyonce, Nicole Kidman, J-Lo...freakin' J-Lo was only showing a leg. The woman who made headlines with a dress that was scotch taped to her breasts a few years ago and yesterday she shows a leg? At least Katy Perry and Kelly Rowland said HA in the face of rules and regulations. One bit of skin we could have done without was Miranda Lambert's hemline or lack thereof, and the cameraman who was determined to find out if the carpet matched the drapes.
Back to the music. Ok, so yes JT has talent. Was he nominated for anything? Was he hosting the show? NO. Note to CBS. Give him a special and let the Awards show be an Awards show. Alicia Keys & Adam Levine were real, Rhianna's ballad was boring and the Black Keys/Dr. John/Preservation Jazz Band were the best thing up to that point.
Proving that you don't need to bounce all over the stage to steal the show, I give you Kelly Clarkson with her tribute to Patti Page and Carole King. Elegant and tasteful.
The announcement of the tribute to Bob Marley is where I started to get confused. Bruno Mars came out singing one of his songs, Sting came out singing one of his. What the hell did that have to do with Bob Marley? And why this year Bob Marley? Love Marley, but it was no anniversary pertaining to him. His birthday was just past, but weren't there other names who died this year who would have been more relevant? That being said, once we actually got to the tribute with Rhianna and Ziggy and Damien Marley, it was wonderful.
The Lumineers, Jack White and Carrie Underwood were all great, that is until Underwood's dress developed a life of its own. The light show which appeared on her dress was so distracting that it just trashed her performance. My fear is that this light show will soon be used to display advertisements in some form or another. And won't the world be a better place for that.
And speaking of distraction, the Frank Ocean thing with the Forrest Gump song...huh? This is the song they use to showcase his talent...with that stupid screen making him appear to be running. A joke, and not a funny one. A very small tip of the hat to Adam Yauch seemed an afterthought and I think LL has used up his 15 minutes as an awards show host.
So what was the best moment of the night? For me, no question it was the tribute to Levon Helm, with Elton also giving a salute to the victims of Sandy Hook. Nicely done Sir Elton. Take Zac Brown, T-Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples...MAVIS STAPLES, the Mumfords, Brittney Howard, among others and let them sing 'The Weight." Levon must have been smiling.
Today we are doing a little something different. Our first guest post. Blog reader Teen L. serves up some quick thoughts on last night's Grammy Awards.
Grammy Night: Some Highlights and Low Lights
Bruce..."We Take Care of Our Own" Perfect way to open the show.
LL Cool...Very well done!
Adele... The song bird, vocals at its best.
Jennifer Hudson....Moving tribute to Whitney
Chris Brown...Not a big fan.
Katy Perry....I'm speechless
Foo Fighters...Oh Man! "Music from the soul"
Bon Iver...new artist, not to me--No fancy hi tech studio required.
Tony Bennet....A classic
Civil Wars....Excellent duo
Glenn Cambell....you are "The Rhinestone Cowboy".
Sir Paul and the Rockers....."The End" The Best
Nicki Minaj....No Comment. !
So pleased the DVR was set. Cranked it up this morning to replay "The
End".
Thanks Teen.
There were definitely some moments that took your breath away and not necessarily in a good way. And then there was Adele, setting the standard for what music should be. No dancing, no simulated sex, no wardrobe malfunctions...just a song, a voice and an attitude. I, for one couldn't ask for anything more.
