Who’s your favorite “underdog” artist in rock?

Along the same line of thought, has there ever been a better “ugly duckling” moment before a national audience than Elliott Smith performing in that ill-fitting white suit at the Oscars?

I’ve been hearing a lot of Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” on oldies radio. This has always been my second-favorite Elton John song. To this day I greatly anticipate the moment when he sings “dammit” as well as the moment when he launches into that falsetto coda. Two questions emerge:

• Is there a song with a naughty word you highly anticipate hearing, no matter how many times you hear the song?
• Excluding Billy Joel’s fine homages to the particular singing style of Frankie Valli and Lou Christie (not a true falsetto, as someone like Smokey Robinson uses), is Elton John the last artist to have successfully turned this trick?

I look forward to your responses.

“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 »

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?