At one time I was a rock n’ roll D.J. and I knew everybody. I followed the trends, who were the hot new bands, what were the latest underground movements, etc. Which group used which drug -- that sort of informed thing. The Grammys were must-see. I was even rooting for people in various categories. I knew all the performers and loved hearing them do live versions of their hit songs. Whitney Houston – Wow. Aretha Franklin stepping in and doing opera – WOW.
But as I got older I found it harder and harder to stay current. I would really make the effort. I’d listen to the hot rock stations and try to familiarize myself with the new artists. I watched MTV when they actually played music. Eventually it got to be too much work, and I had a realization. None of these songs resonated with me. And that’s because none of them were meant to. They were geared to a younger generation – which is how it should be. But at that point I got off the train.
Now I like what I like, regardless of era or style, and am just fine with that. And if there’s a contemporary singer that knocks me out – like the year of Adele – I watched. Otherwise, I have no idea who most of these artists are. Also, (my “hip factor” is about to take another huge ding), I don’t enjoy Hip Hop. Yes, some of it is very clever poetry, but give me Otis Redding and Darlene Love.
About fifteen years ago I was doing research for a project on the music industry and got to attend Dick Clark’s AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS. Afterwards I was invited to the post-show party. Most (not all but most) of these artists were incredibly full of themselves and arrogant. I remember thinking at the time, “Who the fuck are you? In another year you’ll be out of the business and completely forgotten.” Sure enough, that’s what happened to 90% of them. Even the winners.
Another thing I noticed about the Grammys – every year there seems to be an artist or group that is the Academy’s darling and they win nine Grammys. Two years later they’re often an afterthought.
So I didn’t watch last night. If there were memorable moments – if Miley Cyrus twerked with Ringo Starr I’ll see it on YouTube. But truthfully, I still can’t get the image of last week's horrific Super Bowl halftime show out of my mind and figure the Grammys could be three hours of this. Better to use the time writing about it rather than watching it.
Oh, and congratulations to all the winners, whoever you are.
59 comments :
I’m right there with you, Ken. I record it because I don’t want to miss the really big moments like “Glitter in the Air” and Aretha singing “Nesum Dorma”. But most of these artists I’ve never heard of.
Pam, St. Louis.
My wife being a recording artist, she votes in the Grammys, which means we listen to everything put up in the handful of categories of particular interest to her in the first round and all the nominees in the categories she chooses to vote in for the final round. We hear tons of new music and know many musicians, all of whom are talented, dedicated artists putting out fantastic new music.
And all of it gets shunted off to the afternoon ceremony so that awful schlock can fill the prime time show: "And now, a tribute to Motown by Jennifer Lopez!" Seriously? Were there no actual Motown stars in the room?
I thought last year's nominees were terrible (and boy, were they), but this year's somehow managed to be even worse. My wife skipped one major category entirely since she didn't think any of the nominees even deserved to be called a song, much less win an award. They shower nominations on big-selling trash that largely consists of curse words set to a tuneless, repetitive beat or whiny ballads with generic two-chord melodies, and ignore really great music by both older artists and young indies who don't sell out stadiums. To cite just one example of many: this year, Sparks, a band that's been around since the '70s, put out a great album that had three brilliantly inventive videos/songs that were all better than anything nominated in those categories at the Grammys, and they were completely ignored.
We were in L.A. and attended the ceremony the year that Imagine Dragons, for some reason, were that year's saviors of music (nothing against them, but there are probably a thousand bands just as good or better playing in bars all over America.) It was an interesting experience (much better on TV than live; it's choreographed and lighted for maximum impact on TV, not for those of us in the balcony), but the after-parties were far more fun and had better music (Boyz II Men and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.) This year, some of our friends won in various categories in the afternoon ghetto, where the real music is banished to, and I'm happy for them. But mostly, I was happy that I didn't have to attend again, particularly this show.
BTW, don't assume that finding current music uninteresting means you're getting old. There have been a number of studies finding that current music is objectively worse than it used to be (more compressed, fewer chords and notes, fewer vocabulary words in the lyrics, much narrower range of lyrical subjects, etc., and most of it is written by two guys who follow formulas more strictly than your pharmacist does.) There was a news story just a couple of days ago about a survey showing that many young people prefer music from the classic rock era to music that's targeted to them now. As someone said on a "Rock Legends" show I saw recently, "At any given time, somewhere in the world, a 16-year-old kid is hearing the Doors for the first time and getting his mind blown." And I hope a lot of them are like my niece, whose favorite singer is Bing Crosby.
The Grammy pretty much suck but holy shit you have to see the duet by Dua Lipa and St Vincent! I'm a guy but it made me want to be a lesbian. Spectacular production. Middle America must have had an aneurysm watching that one.
I totally agree with you, Ken. My 'hip factor' was never particularly high. One of the presets on my car radio is the local hip-hop station, POWER 106. At least I'm trying to listen once in awhile. I never understood the so called, "generation gap" when I was a kid. But now I find myself saying, "What do the kids see in this s***?!" Even when I cared about music The Grammys were a joke. The Starland Vocal Band? Really? And I can honestly say I have never owned a Christopher Cross album. Not that everything I listened to in high school is a classic. In fact, I'm concerned about how many songs I liked have wound up in Time-Life CD infomercials. If you enjoy today's music I'm happy for you. But, I'll take The Beatles, Pink Floyd or The Stones any day.
M.B.
I did watch Ken (I record and then FAST FORWARD ...no way I could ever watch this in real time!) ... I actually saw very little talent and barely knew anyone. The music (if you want to call it that): forgettable. The only word that comes to mind about the show: overproduced. I guess you could call me an old-timer too, but I remember seeing Sinatra live (a few times). He came out in his tux with that group of fine musicians behind him and sang his heart out. No pyrotechnics and overwhelming light show. Just Frank. I understood every word he sang from the finest songs ever written! That's what I want from music. That's NOT what I get from today's music!
The last time I watched the Grammys in full was the year Norah Jones won a slew of them. Now I wonder if she's even recording anything new...
You and me both, bud, you and me both.
I don't keep up with who the latest popular artists are either, but I watch the Grammys and it was a very entertaining show of generally outstanding performances. They barely allot any time to the actual awards, but showcase the standout songs of the year by the original artists. So, even though I don't do Spotify or know jack shit about what's hip out there, this is the one night I get a crash course in popular music, and there are usually some very welcome surprises and discoveries. I may just head to iTunes.
Ken,I haven't watched the Grammys in 30 plus years.Actually I don't watch award shows at all.I do like Kacey Musgraves and she will have a long steady musical career.
Lady Ga Ga, who you said you enjoyed in "A Star Is Born", had a great performance.
I hear ya. What ever happened to great soul music? I haven't watched the Grammys in years. So, i decided to watch last night to see what I've been missing. Turns out that there were some really good acts and performances, and some very nice eye candy
But I still don't know who the f&%#k I was watching.
Well, the way I feel about the Grammy's is sort of the same way I feel about returning to my old neighborhood for a visit :it's not my town anymore and it doesn't feel the same ... It exists in my memory which is how I want to refer to the Grammy's ....
I recorded it. I'll watch D Ross and a few other items. I imagine I'll get through the whole thing in 30 minutes.
Full Disclosure:
I am not now, nor have I ever been, HIP.
Even when I was supposed to be, as a teenager (this would have been the mid-to-late '60s).
The whole popular music world left me behind many years ago, and shows no sign of missing me at all.
The same is true of just about all of Modren Pop Kulture.
The last movie I paid to see was Stan & Ollie - and I can't see anything in the offing that even interests me.
Most of my TV watching is coming out of my Old DVD Wall - because those are the only shows where I can read the credits.
Summing up, I seem to have become a proto-hermit - and I'm not enjoying it one Goddamned bit.
So how was your weekend?
When I was in radio, I promised myself I would never be one of those clueless old people who didn't stay current on what was going on in music. I broke my promise. I have no idea who these people are. I did, however, DVR the show so that I could see the much talked about performances... I'll get to them eventually.
Hip-hop/rap hasn't changed form in 30 years... how is it still current? Asking for a friend.
I kind of gave up on modern music when MTV arrived on the scene. All of a sudden the music took a back seat to the visual. I'd talk to music fans about recent music and they would always say "Great video." I didn't ask about the video, I asked about the music. So it really weakened the art.
And when an art form is weakened it opens itself up to takeover. What took it over was rap which I have never considered to be music. It's vulgar poetry that is, in most cases, completely unintelligible. Now add the impact of American Idol where everyone screamed, yodeled, and sounded the same. Once again those acts were sold not because of music talent but because of a TV show.
Give me my 50s, 60s, and 70s (excluding disco) and I'm a happy camper.
The late composer-host-musician Steve Race once said, "When you turn 35, something terrible happens to music". There is a LOT of music out there and it is more accessible than ever in human history, for better or for worse, but the urgency of finding THAT song that speaks to me THAT way, is not as important to me.
I did watch some of the Grammys, which has long been sales-driven, interrupted by spells of talent, but instead of trying to woo anyone to my preferences, did anyone else feel that the ads during the Grammys were more fun than the Super Bowl's ads?
And if that ain't about music, I'll eat my hat...MNFFF! *chomp* *chomp*
Mr. Hollywood, a small quibble. I will NEVER dictate or begrudge you your taste, but I would argue that every song that you heard on the program was music. I certainly understand that quite a bit of what you heard you vehemently disliked, but I decry statements like, "....that isn't music!", its just stuff you can't stand and I can agree to that. I also agree that some things aren't very musical, but that is a pretty widely defined term. Green Fuz by Randy Alvey and the Green Fuz is badly played, sung and recorded, but the kids are trying and that I find kind of cool and musical, at least in its attempt. By the same token, someone brought up the clinical nature of following strict patterns to turn out bona fide hits may be music, but not horribly musical from a soul standpoint.
Music can be tuneless, like the Kodo drummers of Japan.
Music can have no rhythm, like John Cage's Imaginary Landscape
Artistic licenses need renewal just like driver's licenses, but it's ALL MUSIC.
What, you don't like Fuck Tha Police by NWA?
I try and keep current. I've found in recent years that the best new artists have been the ladies. May I recommend you look up Imelda May, Gin Wigmore and Dua Lipa. All superb singer songwriters and not manufactured puppets.
By the way everyone, here's a fun new drinking game. Go on youtube and look up the acceptance speech by Letitia Wright for best newcomer at last night's BAFTA awards. If you have a drink for every time she mentions god, you'll need a new liver. It was such a cringe worthy speech. As someone on Twitter said, it's nice that god took time out from ignoring murder, war and hunger to help Wright win an award.
It’s dead easy to write a pop song. They all use the same four chords.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=four+chords+axis+of+awesome&qpvt=four+chords+axis+of+awesome&view=detail&mid=60CB124068071ED75D9160CB124068071ED75D91&&FORM=VRDGAR
I just read that a Fox News host has admitted he hasn't washed his hands in ten years.
So it's true. Fox News is literally full of shit.
The "Best Rock Album" award was given in the afternoon, and not part of the show. That, right there, is it, my friends. It is official. Rock is dead. Long live rock
If I don't recognize most of the acts on the Grammys -- which I don't, and I'm in the damned Recording Academy -- is it their fault for being popular, or mine for being out-of-touch?
That's the main reason I watch the show: to find out if I've missed anything. Occasionally, the answer is "yes."
Back in (harrumph) my day, the Grammys were dissed for awarding too many acts whose audience skewed old. Now, pretty much the same people find the nominees skew too young. What a country!
Definitely a show that requires fast-forward, though.
And finally, I'd like to thank Clive Davis and God. In that order.
Well, as Prince put it more than 30 years ago in "Dead On It":
"See the rapper's problem usually stem from being tone deaf
Pack the house then try to sing
There won't be no one left"
I would add: Not everything that's the product of recording technology is necessarily music. Nor has there ever been (to my knowledge) any rap track that could be performed by humans alone; there are always prerecorded tracks.
KL - Like you I was seriously into the scene. I worked for Warner Bros. Music, Atlantic, Sire and other record companies as well as MTV (when they broadcast music). Also worked on movies (including a fave you occasionally cite: The Verdict). Was proud of all this knowledge. Lived and breathed this stuff. And while I use all this knowledge and experience to produce my work, had little interest in watching the Grammys. And truthfully, my interest has waned in the Oscars, too.
Recently, someone 20 years younger than I started talking about movies and music and wanted my take. I explained to her that when I was her age (there goes my hip quotient) I was into it as much as she, but not so much today. I found myself reaching for references when I used to be able to spout this stuff in rapid fire succession, but along the lines of what you mentioned, my time is spent on other interests.
That said, fortunately, I happened to flip on the encore presentation of the Grammys right when St. Vincent and Dua Lipa came on, and IMHO, they killed! St. Vincent's lead guitar was a knockout playing along to Duna Lipa's vocals. Yes, there was a repetitive groove track playing behind them, but they brought life to it They are sexy and talented and it gave me hope that all is not lost.
Sharone Rose:
"Hip-hop/rap hasn't changed form in 30 years... how is it still current?"
It isn'. It's an abomination, and has been for over two decades. I say this as a Gen-Xer who grew up with hip-hop in the 80s (among many other musical genres that still had currency). Hip-hop, R&B, and alt-rcok, and essentially all popular music just simply took a nose-dive in mainstream culture around the early 90s, and has never recovered.
I actually do know the reason--calculated conformity and cynicism in the recording industry. Make the same thing over and over and fucking over to sell CDs and get ticket sales. Really, the best thing anyone who is an adult today can do is steer any young people they know back to better music, and hope they can reverse the past three decades.
P.S. Same goes for American political culture.
Well, I intended on watching The Grammys, but then, I also wanted to catch up on "Victoria" on PBS, so...
I'm sure there are sociological studies out there as to why we taper off with listening to current music as we grow older, but really, we have other shit to do as we age. Music takes a back seat. We don't have the time to sit around, get stoned, and listen to The Moody Blues. We have a spouse/children, mortgages, aging parents, pissy jobs, and local politics on our mind. If I don't know the latest Ariana Grande tune, my life will not shatter into a million little pieces. My toilet, on the other hand, might if I don't fix the leak.
I sometimes sit here and look at the many hundreds of albums, cassettes and CDs in my collection and think, Jesus Fucking Christ - when did I ever have the time to listen to all of these?
And then, I think, Wow, those were the days, eh? Now, when is my next visit to the orthopedist again? This knee ain't gonna last forever.
I think "one moment" of the show you would have liked (and one of the very, very few I happened to catch) was the bit between one of your idols, presenter Bob Newhart, and presented Alessia Cara for Best New Artist:
......Cara then shared that her grandmother had all of Newhart's comedy records, before playfully correcting herself, saying, "I think it was my great-grandmother."
Newhart said to thank both women before Cara tried to correct herself again, to which Newhart jokingly responded, "Alright, alright!" before they went on to present the award.....
I was fortunate enough to attend several "Grammy Dinners" here in Los Angeles in the 60's, when they were regional, before they started the national telecast. Ken, you would have been in heaven.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/alessia-cara-bob-newhart-exchange-061843426.html
I'm with Hollywoodaholic up there: I'm a late-middle-aged white suburban housewife whose musical proclivities are stuck in the pop-rock of the late '90s-early '00s. But I do make it a point to watch the Grammys every year just to see what's new and hip these days, and to challenge my cranky-old-lady assumptions about what those crazy kids are listening to. Yes, the awards given out on live TV should be better spread out across the genres, and some of the artists and performances were not my jam, but I greatly enjoyed much of it, and was delighted at the focus on and appreciation of women in music.
As an old, I am neither required nor expected to like current pop music (or most movies, TV shows, etc.) because it's not made for me. One of the joys of music, I seem to recall, is that it makes your parents yell, "Turn that noise off!" Which they have probably been doing since the first ragtime records were made. So I didn't watch either. But how did CBS conclude that 60 MINUTES, absurd as it sometimes is, was less important than two hours of overdressed people posing on a long rug? One hour would have been plenty.
Now I'm going to YouTube to listen to Roomful of Teeth and I suggest you do the same.
Same as you, I used to watch the Grammys. But then one day in 1979 I had to play "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang on-air, it was one of the first hip-hop/rap songs to gain traction and become a hit. Didn't say it but thought "Man, I hope this shit does not catch on". [by the way, Rapper's Delight was produced by Sylvia Robinson who was the founder of Sugarhill Records. You might also know her from having a hit in 1957 with "Love Is Strange", which was written by Bo Diddley and Jody Williams, when she was with Mickey Baker and known as Mickey & Sylvia and her solo hit "Pillow Talk" in 1972/73. And now back to the countdown.]Fast forward 40 years later and {C}rap music and hip-hop is all over the place. Can't stand 99.5% of it. It's everywhere. Can't remember the record I was listening to but right in the middle of this beautiful ballad it breaks out with some thug rapping in the middle of it. I ripped the CD out of the player and smashed it against the wall. When the Grammys started featuring groups/singers and {C}rappers I have never heard of nor wanted to hear from I quit watching. I might turn it on now to drive small rodents, spiders and other vermin from the walls of my house but that's about it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that "Weird Al" Yankovic and Alan Parsons [and if Alan Parsons ever comes to an area near you in concert, go see him. He and his group puts on a hell of a show.] won a Grammy this year so maybe there is some hope for the Grammys after all.
I saw much of the show, but I couldn't say I watched it. I was at the casino playing poker and the TV was showing it with the sound off, and from what I could tell I would have had little to no interest in hearing anything that was being sung or said. However, I did note that they brought out the winner of the 1961 Best New Artist award: Bob Newhart, who has just been coasting off that win ever since.
Couldn't agree more.
Well, I guess it's because we're OLD. When I was young and watched the Grammy's, I remember my mother saying the same thing about the performers and music. Funny you mention Ringo. When my husband complained that we didn't know anyone, I asked him if he thought anyone wanted to see 80 year old Ringo Starr? It's all relative.Janice B.
You realize all of this could be the lingering effects of your encounter with Ms. Chaka Khan.
I feel for you, Ken.
I hear you. I know there must be good contemporary music, and every once in a great while I do stumble across something. But more often than not, it's just someone screaming and/or swearing into a microphone.
As Pat Reeder said above, classic rock is gaining an audience in the younger generation. And many of the artists of my day have had second careers in another category because they really could sing. And probably there's some real talent in the new faces, as well. It's just really hard to find, probably because we don't have the broader exposure.
I don't think its just generational, either. If that were true, the old standards, Motown, classic country, etc. wouldn't even be a memory today. Those sounds survive because they have cross-generational appeal. It's good music, even if the genres are all very different from each other.
Here's the main thing I don't like in female singers these days- too much scream singing. Sing it, don't scream it.
I remember the Grammys being entirely pre-recorded. One year, they were hosted by Rowan & Martin (that'll tell you how long ago this was), and the big deal was that the winner for best whatever wasn't going to be known until the broadcast. They'd pre-recorded acceptance speeches by all the nominees, and so there was Art Garfunkel, dressed nicely, holding a Grammy and standing alone on a small set, and doing his best to look surprised and act grateful.
The Grammys lost me when Jethro Tull won the first year that best heavy metal band was on the ballot. Members of Metallica were stunned and the rest of the audience laughed.
The few times I watch SNL on Saturdays, I'll catch some current artists, but I'm fortunate that the public radio station here, WXPN, has introduced me to new acts like War on Drugs (Best Rock Album winner last year) and Kasey Musgraves (Best Album and Best Country Album winner last night), along with newer artists like The Record Company, Hozier, and J.S. Ondara, and artists who've been around that I became acquainted with like Weezer, LCD Soundsystem, Drive By Truckers, and Beck.
I'm a Boomer, so my Spotify playlist is heavy with classic rock and Motown, but I'm open to new music. Unfortunately, rap and hip hop and most of country, I just can't get into. And I've tried.
Lastly, check out the new Sam Cooke documentary on Netflix. I knew of the singer, but didn't realize what a change agent he was becoming, to the discomfort of the music industry.
I never really got music, but it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse since the 60s when I first started noticing it. Granted, I went through the 60s no knowing who the Beatles were.
I hope I die before I get old....
I only know rhe music because I have 3 teenage boys and one preteen. We also have 3 Bnei Mitzvot this month so we will hear our fair share of Cardi B and old school rap for us Gen X’ers. My kids didn’t watch the Grammy’s. I don’t think they even knew about it. Nowadays the lines are blurred. You don’t hear parents complaining about today’s music because they want to seem young and hip like their kids. Not me. I’m happy being unhip.
All is not lost, Buddy Guy won for best traditional blues album.
Hey Ken,
Some news about The Apple Pan...
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/irving-azoff-wife-shelli-acquire-apple-pan-diner-1176041
A response to Pat Reeder. This may be a small sample size. I am in a couple of face book groups dealing with I would say 50's 60's and 70's music. No one gives their ages but I would say 99 per cent of the members of these two groups are more like my age. In their 60's and 70's. I heard about a couple of performances and looked them up on you tube. Dolly Parton was great. I didn't watch the Lady Gaga video but heard she was great. I think she is quite talented. If she is good enough for Tony Bennett that says a lot. There is still plenty of good music out there. You just have to do some searching for it.
You won’t get it by watching “highlights” but Alicia Keys was about as good as it gets for hosting a show like that.
For fun, you might look at the Cardi B song as performed at the Grammys, then look at the actual lyrics for the song. (OK, you don’t have to look. At the Grammys she sings she rides in his truck with some big tall heels. The lyrics posted on the Internet indicate that the actual lyric is “dick” not “truck”.)
I hope I can recall this correctly, but back in the 90s, Bette Midler was on the Larry King Show. King must have asked her about the "state of music today" or some such question, and Bette, in an almost melancholy voice, said: "I miss melody."
Sad, but true.
(I know we have songs - especially in country music - with melody, but I think we get her point. And that was in the 90s!)
The second half of this comment (and the opening line) were completely irrelevant to the conversation and flat out rude on so many levels. Surprised it got posted.
To tavm:
Just FYI about Norah Jones recording anything new: yes, she is, but she is in the vanguard of what is likely to be the next depressing evolution in music, the death of the album. She's decided it takes too long to put together 12 songs on a theme and record, market and promote it. So she says from now on, she plans to go into the studio when she has a few songs she wants to do and release them immediately. It's actually a step backward to the pre-album era of singles and EPs, but I guess nobody has the attention span to appreciate albums anymore. My wife is a retro jazz singer, and she's considering doing the same since it takes too much time to record an entire album and too much money to press CDs that nobody buys anymore anyway.
I've never watched the Grammys because my interests are largely confined to traditional and classical music. However, one of my friends was nominated one year in an engineering category, and so he went in person. It was the year O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU? was up for a bunch of awards, and out onto the stage came Ralph Stanley to sing "Oh, Death". My friend thought he was the only one in the audience who knew who he was. Sad, if true. He said Stanley was great. (I still didn't see it...)
wg
I think part of the problem of us not knowing what is going on today, is how music is released. 'Back-n-da-day if someone was releasing an "album", there was articles, press releases, and since only a few places make albums/cassettes/8-track, there wasn't a constant flow of "album" releases. So when something was released by big artists, it was note worthy. People who read the trades, listened to radio, knew dates of releases. Knew when to go to the record store and plop down the $7.99 for an album or $0.99 for 45.
I hope I die before I get old....
Now tracks are released with a click of a mouse, can't keep track of it. Our tastes haven't changed, music has, and we don't want to spend the time to catch up when we can crank CCR from one of the 3 mediums we own of their work. Who doesn't remember getting an album, and sitting down with friends to listen to it, everyone taking turns reading the album cover, and possible lyrics in the sleeve. Now it is all ear buds.
My father had a different taste in music. My son has different taste in music. Such is life. Kids don't even want stereos anymore. That was a milestone in our lives.
Buddy Guy lamented about the Blues, people can only hear it an hour or 2 a week on special programs on the radio. He won best blues album, and is there any air play?
Thank you for your audience, and $0.05, you can keep the change.
I don't see how the opening line was irrelevant. It was a tongue in cheek response to Ken saying he's not into hip-hop.
Thanks, Pat Reeder, for replying to my query.
And the hate on Letitia, her speech, and/or God? She's a kid dude. An extremely talented kid who is experiencing things like award shows for the first time at a young age. Relax.
I share with most commenters the dislike for rap, but one song turned me into a fan for a small sub-genre of rap. It was the song used in Breaking Bad for a montage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiQ7S38nKog
I'm relaxed. I wasn't hating on her. As an atheist, I'm entitled to my opinion. I'm sure religious folks would have plenty to say if someone got on stage and made a speech telling everyone there's no god.
And I maintain that it's funny she believes god helped her win an award.
Let's agree to disagree. :)
I'm always amazed that when I do find a much younger artist that I like; it's their 9th cd or somesuch number.
But I was also amazed to stumble on the story of The Hard Rock Park, (circa 2008) in Myrtle Beach and its ultimate demise. I generally try to keep up with music, but today was the very first I've heard one word about it. Certainly hey would have only offered a Disney-fied music experience; but they seemed to have gonads, taking things in various weird directions....following some links in the story will bring you to pics of the "Eat-Me Diner" and the "Whac-A-Boyband" game. Hutzpah indeed!
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/vbwbmd/hard-rock-theme-park-ten-years-later-global-financial-crisis
I just wanna know who got the 80-foot tall neon guitar ;>)
The Grammy's which is now a Defacto People's Choice Award is still probably better at picking winners then it was in the 20th Century and 00's.When Hendrix,Aretha,Stones,The Who,The Beatles were the dominant cultural force they were rewarding Grammy's to things like Tony Bennett and Mel Torme sings the Bossa Nova. And the 90s and 00's most year seemed to be used to give make up Grammy's for popular artists they ignored at their peak in the 60's and 70's.
I think that the Grammy Awards and their relevance are fading into the past just like radio, Billboard and Radio & Records magazines and owning a stereo with big speakers. All this stuff was tied in with the whole business of records themselves. After all, the awards are named after the machine that we used to play records on. They were such an important part of our lives but they're gone. It's over. Records and everything that went along with them are now just a memory...a great memory....from days gone by.
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