Grammy'd

Writing about the idiocy known as the Grammy Awards Show just isn't that much fun anymore. I used to take great glee is slicing and dicing them but they’ve been so dumb for so long that, to quote Mr. King (as in B.B.): the thrill is gone. That said, I now look at it as live comedy, of the squirm in your seat variety. It's always mildly amusing to see the U.S/U.K. music business make an ass of itself for the entire world to see. In no particular order here's a few Grammy 2007 observations. On one of those occasions when the camera whirled down and across the crowd, I saw Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, looking very adult-like, and his wife sitting in a coveted aisle seat. He's come up in the world. His band's Sky Blue Sky was nominated for Best Rock Album but lost out to the Foo Fighters. Sinatra and Keys? A tragic mistake for her. Showed how limited her talent is, but then anyone would come up short against Frank. That little sound/image synch problem did not help. A bad idea gone wrong. Tina and Beyonce. Tina looked spectacular at 69 and sounded even better. She is a wonder of nature. And plastic surgery. Beyonce? Damn, the woman has dancer thighs doesn't she? She looked and sounded very nervous. Of course again, she was matched, not to her advantage, with a masterful singer. Maybe the whole young/old thing needs a rethink. Liked the commercials for Garth Brooks Greatest Hits records. The Jerry Lee Lewis/Little Richard/John Fogerty segment was fairly amazing. The Killer, who has been rumored to be on death's door for at least the last decade, looked jowly as hell but was still having fun. Little Richard, on the other hand, was oddly waxen looking (yes, more than normal) and was downright grim when he played. It did occur to me that that performance could well be Jerry Lee's final television appearance, the last glimpse America will ever get, of one of the more unforgettable creators of rock ‘n ‘roll. Thank God Michael Jackson didn’t show up to pay tribute to Thriller. The freak quotient was off the map to begin with. Seeing and hearing Keely Smith was great. Kid Rock however is the same untalented dope he's always been. His only redeeming quality is his respect for rock's elders, which still ain't enough to make me say anything but: why does this man have a music career? Loved the look on people's faces when Doris Day’s name was mentioned. Ooohh was that a LONG time ago. Andy Williams looked like Andy Williams if he were one hundred and ten years old. It’s testament to what performing in Branson, Mo. ad nauseum will do to ya. And poor squinting Tony Bennett did not a whole lot better. Great choice on Herbie Hancock. Blew everyone's mind. In a good way.

COMMENTS
woofer's picture

Gee Robert..do i sense of bit of ageism here?Those people you mentioned ARE old....so cut thema little slack...some day your gonna be thereand someone might say...sheesh...that Robert Bairdstill writes for Stereophile?..I thought he retiredmany years ago.....just my 2 cents...:-)

John in d.c.'s picture

funny, I just ripped a blogger at the Village Voice for RAMPANT ageism in his writing about the Grammys. I thought Robert took it much easier on the oldies, by comparison. My take: The new should not completely replace the old until the old are dead. Until then, everyone has a right to their space and ageist America should look to other cultures that venerate their elders, which is not the same, I must point out, as inviting them to move in with me.

Robert C's picture

So let's see, compare the modern day celeb/actor/model/maybe-musician with the old style real-musician, whom now are really-old, from the current gotta-be-pretty-first perspective, and they don't look so good, what a surprise. Their looks were never their claim to fame anyway, thank goodness. I'll close my eyes and listen, thank you. The young/old thing is being done in the attempt to give the new artist some of the gravitas of the old artist, simply by association. Doesn't work, does it? As for Kid Schlock, at least they didn't match him up with Led Zepplin... OMG, what a thought, I think I'm gonna be sick! The choice of Mr. Hancock makes several statements, among them that even the Grammy's recognizes that most of today's popular music is not so good.

Dave's picture

As I watched Hancock and (I'm sorry, I recognized him but forgot the name of the other player) doing the Gershwin I wondered what the young nominees (and young TV viewers) thought of that. Did they think, "oh, how quaint ... now let's get back to reality" or did they get the education they likely needed?

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