Mr. Moderator

Mr. Moderator

When not blogging Mr. Moderator enjoys baseball, cooking, and falconry.

Feb 112007
 


“Why bash the GRAMMYS?”
We’ve been asked this of late. The GRAMMYS have never done anything to us. At a young age it was clear that the GRAMMYS would play little to no role in our rock snob lives. It was a For The Industry, By The Industry affair. Rarely did a happening band win anything. Rarely did a legendary artists win at the height of his or her powers. The Beatles and Stevie Wonder have done all right by the GRAMMYS, but Dylan had to get off his high horse and serve somebody before he would earn his first GRAMMY.

The Rolling Stones, as Townsman KingEd will examine, have won a mere 2 shameful GRAMMYS. U2 tops all bands in GRAMMY wins, with 22 and counting. Must be the appeal of Bono’s acceptance speeches, a topic that will be covered by Townswoman Crystal. Need I say more than A Taste of Honey to help you understand why we bash the GRAMMYS? Continue reading »

Share
Feb 112007
 

Let’s take a moment to shine a spotlight on key performers and presenters at this year’s GRAMMY Awards. New performers have been added almost daily. The latest additions were announced today:

The Recording Academy announced today that current multi-nominees singer/songwriter James Blunt and rapper T.I. will perform on the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards, and six-time GRAMMY winners Earth, Wind & Fire will join previously announced performers Mary J. Blige and Ludacris in a special GRAMMY segment.

I can’t get enough of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”, and I can only hope that rumors of a throwdown with Christina Aguilera and her similarly named song from a year or two ago are correct.

Anyone else agree with me that Earth, Wind & Fire were the Black Chicago (the band, that is)? Or am I thinking of The Commodores?

Damn – did you watch this video? I must be thinking about The Commodores!

It’s not just performers who are being added right up until the big event, but presenters too! If you had been checking the presenter list a few days ago and were disappointed that one of your favorite barely relevant artists was not listed as a presenter, maybe one of the following last-minute additions will satisfy you.

Presenters added to the all-star lineup include multi-GRAMMY winners Burt Bacharach, Natalie Cole, and Reba McEntire, rapper/actor Common as well as actors Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”), actress/singer Mandy Moore, Academy Award winner Quentin Tarantino, and actor Luke Wilson.

Personally, the addition of Cobie Smulders made my day. And I can’t wait to see how wasted and keeeerAAAAAZY Tarantino will be. Bet he’ll come out dressed in an 8-ball jacket! Ironic?

Share
Feb 092007
 

Townsman Rick, one of Rock Town Hall’s most contemporary and open-minded regulars, has determined the three big questions leading into this Sunday’s 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards:

For me, there are three big questions going into the GRAMMYS:

  • The first is, how will The Police do?
  • The second is, will Gnarls Barkley have that breakout performance that has the whole country going “I have no idea WTF these guys are, but they’re great!” Unfortunately, they’ll probably play the tame hit “Crazy” instead of a mindbender like “Go-Go Gadget Gospel”, but still their bizarre combined Look should be interesting and challenging to folks in Peoria.
  • Third, have we really gone so soft that Corinne Bailey Rae will win GRAMMY Awards? Sheesh. At least A Taste of Honey (who beat out Costello for Best New Artist, but you knew that, right?) were aggressively cheesy, and their one hit does have legs.
Share
Feb 092007
 

We feel it would be of benefit for those of us who feel compelled to tune in for at least a stretch of the GRAMMYS to have a “treasure hunt”-style checklist of expected moments to track. Perhaps you will want to take a drink whenever one of these Obligatory GRAMMYS Moments takes place, but that is optional.

Things we expect to add to this list, which we will make available as a downloadable .pdf document, include the following:

  • First wasted acceptance speech
  • Artist joined, in mid-song, by a robed choir
  • Sting’s slow-motion prance, long coat flapping as his knees kick up, during an instrumental break in “Walking on the Moon”
  • First presenter given the “hook” for going on too long with acceptance speech
  • Award winner/performer thanks the Lord
  • Award winner/performer thanks a lord other than Jesus, such as Zeus or Poseidon
  • Each time a Beyonce/Shakira/Jessica/J-Lo/Fergie of the night employs the bowling pin alignment dance arrangement: Big star in front, 2 dancers behind her, 3 dancers behind them forming a triangle of dancers all doing the same steps
  • All-star tribute to James Brown (led by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Sting)
  • Performer who offers the most awkward and inelegant “I’m for the troops, but against the war” to court both liberals and conservatives
  • First artist to get BLEEPED during presentation/performance
  • First artist to slip a curse word by the censors

You get the idea. Please help add to this list. Ideally we’ll come up with a list to publish here later tonight. Thanks!

Share

Lost Password?

 
twitter facebook youtube