what I learned from the Grammy nominations
(listed here)
1. Ministry still exists and released a new record.
2. Paul McCartney doing "I Saw Her Standing There" is, apparently, Grammy-worthy.
3. Unexpectedly, my favorite song on the Radiohead album got nominated for Best Rock Performance, competing against two of my least favorite bands of all time. (Which these are is left as an exercise to the reader.) It also got nominated for Best Rock Song.
4. There are separate categories for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.
5. There is a place called Gdansk, and David Gilmour apparently played live there.
6. Rush did some peace for Tibet thing and wrote a song about it. What would Ayn Rand say? Would she be grateful it was an instrumental?
7. Death Cab For Cutie may be officially the biggest "I saw them when ..." band. (I saw them at, if I remember right, a zine fair at PSU shortly after their first album came out, and nobody was even paying attention.)
8. I've never heard of anyone who performs "Urban/Alternative" music. I'm not even clear what that would sound like.
9. Not something I learned, but wouldn't it be great if the Grammy broadcast built up to a rousing finale of "Category 43: Best New Age Album"?
10. Rock or Rap contemporary gospel is a distinct category from Pop/contemporary gospel.
11. However, "Metal" is lumped into a single category. No separate categories for "Death", "Black", "Doom", "Stoner", and "Hair".
12. I actually did know that there were an absurd number of Grammy categories; however, this is the first time I've noted the Native American music category.
13. Ernest V. Stoneman is apparently the unsung father of country music, and he only gets a nomination for liner notes. Insult to injury, I say.
14. Apparently the Taft/Bryan debates were released on CD. But where's my wax cylinder?
15. I really should have got around to watching that Radiohead video when it first came out.
1. Ministry still exists and released a new record.
2. Paul McCartney doing "I Saw Her Standing There" is, apparently, Grammy-worthy.
3. Unexpectedly, my favorite song on the Radiohead album got nominated for Best Rock Performance, competing against two of my least favorite bands of all time. (Which these are is left as an exercise to the reader.) It also got nominated for Best Rock Song.
4. There are separate categories for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.
5. There is a place called Gdansk, and David Gilmour apparently played live there.
6. Rush did some peace for Tibet thing and wrote a song about it. What would Ayn Rand say? Would she be grateful it was an instrumental?
7. Death Cab For Cutie may be officially the biggest "I saw them when ..." band. (I saw them at, if I remember right, a zine fair at PSU shortly after their first album came out, and nobody was even paying attention.)
8. I've never heard of anyone who performs "Urban/Alternative" music. I'm not even clear what that would sound like.
9. Not something I learned, but wouldn't it be great if the Grammy broadcast built up to a rousing finale of "Category 43: Best New Age Album"?
10. Rock or Rap contemporary gospel is a distinct category from Pop/contemporary gospel.
11. However, "Metal" is lumped into a single category. No separate categories for "Death", "Black", "Doom", "Stoner", and "Hair".
12. I actually did know that there were an absurd number of Grammy categories; however, this is the first time I've noted the Native American music category.
13. Ernest V. Stoneman is apparently the unsung father of country music, and he only gets a nomination for liner notes. Insult to injury, I say.
14. Apparently the Taft/Bryan debates were released on CD. But where's my wax cylinder?
15. I really should have got around to watching that Radiohead video when it first came out.
posted by dd | 11:20 PM
4 Comments:
Doug!!??
Long lost friend from Farmington Hills days. Now you're across the world in New Zealand! I hope life is going well on your adventures. Let me guess two of your least fav. bands - AC/DC and the Eagles? Or is it Coldplay? Just a long lost hello from the days of yesteryear with the Raider Marching Band, strat-o-matic baseball and David Bowie concert. Say hi to your Mom and Dad and Brad. Drop me a line if you get a chance.
Your old pal,
Joe Fee
What I learned from reading your entry, plus any subsequent research it inspired:
1. The Grammys still exist. (Seriously. So off my radar these days.)
2. All five people (okay, men) nominated for "Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance" are guys I've heard of, but was not aware had recently released an album. Most of them are old enough to have had their first hit in a previous decade. At least.
3. The Eagles' new album, if anything from the Eagles can be called new, was put out by Eagles Recording Company II. There's already been a previous one?!
5. I probably wouldn't know where Gdansk was if I hadn't visited Poland. But metal fans might be interested to know that its German name is Danzig. Which reminds me of the one Danzig song I know.
7. Wow, Doug, thanks for reminding me -- I was at that show as well! I have no idea why. I think it was to see them, back when they were a local-ish band. So I was paying attention. Perhaps you got me to go?
10. Yeah, "gospel" is a bizarre category. At one point, it referred to an actual style of music, still seen in categories like "Best Gospel Performance" and "Best Gospel Song". But once you start adding modifiers ("Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album", "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album", or "Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album"), then the word refers only to lyrical content, or, really, perceived beliefs of the artists involved. If I were the artists in the latter categories, I'd be insulted, since it's basically an award for "Best Rock or Rap Album We'd Otherwise Ignore, Except It Talks About God in a Vague Sort of Way." But then, I might be insulted by any Grammy nomination.
11. Wow, even the metal bands are all pretty old. The youngest, DragonForce, is a mere nine years old.
Joe, would love to catch up! Are you on Facebook? What's your email? Tried googling but lots of Joe Fees out there ... (Eagles and Coldplay, btw.)
Todd, maybe we went to that show together? Can't really remember who I was there with and why, but it makes sense. I can only assume, given the location, the Blind Onion was involved as well.
Dare I even mention that said Blind Onion is no more? It's true. Sigh. Memories.
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