Thursday, January 15, 1998
Grammys earn back prestige by recognizing worthy artists
COLUMN: This year’s list of nominees includes Puff Daddy,
Radiohead
I have been watching the Grammy Awards since I was in the third
grade. If I remember correctly, that was the year Michael Jackson
won eight awards for his "Thriller" songs. I remember getting all
excited over Tina Turner winning for "What’s Love Got To Do With
It" in 1985 (don’t ask me why I dug Tina so much as a kid).
I remember jumping for joy when U2 took the Album of the Year
award in 1988 for their classic, "The Joshua Tree." The youngest
music fanatic around, I would work myself into a screaming frenzy
when one of my favorite musicians won a Grammy, almost as much as
when the Dodgers or Lakers would win an important game.
Then, just when pop music started getting bad, around 1988, the
Grammy awards started going down the tubes. Shit like "The
Bodyguard" soundtrack won for Best Album of the Year one year.
Milli Vanilli won Best New Artist another. In the midst of an
alternative music revolution and a surge in the popularity of rap,
none of the albums were nominated for the big awards. Albums like
"Achtung Baby" (U2) and "Automatic For the People" (R.E.M.), two
collections I would put in my all-time top five, lost. I remember
it dropped to an all-time low when I stopped watching them my
freshman year in college, then reading the Bruin the next morning
only to see that Tony Bennett won the major awards that year. All
the other newspapers had criticized the Grammys heavily, saying
that the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (who doles
out the little golden trophies every year) was losing credibility,
and quickly.
Well, the next year (1996), what do you know, Alanis Morissette,
as alternative as you were going to get as far as the Grammys were
concerned, swept and criticism was met with mostly contentment. You
see, the nominations panel had been changed and revamped to
sidestep any embarrassing nominations (like the Three Tenors for
Album of the Year), especially when picking solely from the
money-makers rather than the more substantial, less successful
material. At least NARAS made the attempt to recognize people who
were changing the face of pop music. Last year, Beck, the Fugees
and the Smashing Pumpkins received nominations that surprised the
hell out of everyone. NARAS had redeemed themselves.
Now, in 1998, with all the bubble gum bop and wannabe ska
dominating pop music, I figured that the Grammys were going to
screw things up again. But I was wrong. As a matter of fact, for
the first year in a long time, NARAS took the brightest and the
best out there, old and new, and recognized who truly belonged in
the running. Here are 10 reasons why this year’s nominees rightly
represent the most talented in pop music today.
1. No Spice Girls nominations! Whew! Even though they sold more
records than anyone else did this year, these five obnoxious idiots
couldn’t even scrape up a Best Performance by a Pop Duo or Group
award. There was potential for loads of nominations, and the Grammy
committees came through by ignoring the catalysts for the downward
trajectory of pop music today. What a relief!
2. Bob Dylan’s Best Album nomination for "Time Out of Mind."
Definitely not an album for the mainstream, this beautifully creepy
and stark album was one of the best-reviewed albums of the year.
Despite how Dylan has been ignored in the past, when he was in his
prime, the most heralded songwriter of the past 30 or 40 years was
able to get past all the poppy hit-makers and earn a chance at the
big one. If he wins this one, it will be not only a long time
coming, but redemption to a man that has been making brilliant
albums for some time.
3. Puff Daddy’s seven nominations. Say what you will about his
sampling practices, this man is revolutionizing and dominating pop
music. His amazing string of hit singles makes him the most
prolific and accomplished artist of 1997. Even three or four
nominations would have been kind of insulting. The only shame was
that his touching tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G., "I’ll Be
Missing You," was not eligible for Best Song of the Year, and
ignored for Best Record of the Year. Nevertheless, we have to give
it to NARAS for giving a rap artist seven nominations.
4. Radiohead’s Best Album nomination for "O.K. Computer."
Radiohead has made one of the most brilliant and moving albums of
the ’90s. Most of the critics in the worldwide music press said
this album was the best of 1997. Where most alternative albums
failed to possess that inspiring display of creativity and musical
excellence, Radiohead succeeded, and earned the "wild card"
nomination in a big category, despite the fact that the album
hasn’t even sold a million copies yet.
5. Ani Difranco’s nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal.
Difranco is as independent as you can get. Indie artists don’t
score Grammy nominations. They don’t have the air play or record
sales to even receive consideration for a nomination. This talented
folk-driven artist, with a huge yet mainly underground fan base,
had just enough buzz to earn some recognition. I would be shocked
if she won but I would also be incredibly excited to see her win
over Meredith Brooks or even Fiona Apple.
6. Multiple nominations of British artists. Most of the music I
tend to like and really admire comes from overseas. Not to say
American music sucks, not in the least. But British (as well as
Irish and Scottish) pop had a huge year in 1997 with many artists
releasing career-best albums. It was refreshing to see Radiohead,
Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, the
Rolling Stones, and Jamiroquai get recognized; they all are
award-worthy artists. Ireland’s U2 even got a nomination, even if
it was only one, for "Pop." Hopefully The Verve will score big next
year, as they were ineligible for awards this year. I was sad to
see Oasis get passed up, though.
7. The Wallflowers’ three nods in the rock categories. They
might be overplayed, but their material was some of the only true
rock and roll making an impression in 1997, and it was worthy of
that distinction.
8. David Bowie’s two nominations. He received one for "Dead Man
Walking" in the Best Male Rock Vocal category, his best song since
"Modern Love" from the early eighties, and one for Best Alternative
Performance. The Duke has also long been ignored by the Grammys.
Better late than never, I guess. I would have even loved to have
seen him share a nomination with Puff Daddy and the Notorious
B.I.G. for the rap song, "Been Around the World," as well.
9. Speaking of Best Alternative Performance, this year’s five
nominees certainly gave us alternatives to the standard KROQ pop
music we’ve hear before. Included are Radiohead, Prodigy, the
Chemical Brothers, Bjork, and Bowie. The usual Bush, Rage Against
the Machine, Smashing Pumpkins-type of "alternative" music was
saved for the Best Hard Rock category. This should help prove that
this kind of modern guitar rock is mainstream now, not
"alternative."
10. Lastly, in one recognition of something other than music, I
am supremely happy that they got rid of last year’s unbelievably
unhumorous Ellen DeGeneres and instead are having Kelsey Grammer
("Fraiser") take over the job. I just had to say that.
I realize that in the long run, the Grammys really don’t mean
much. Artists like Bob Dylan and Puff Daddy don’t need awards to
affirm their greatness or impact in popular music. And I’ve learned
that my favorite performers don’t need to win Grammys to win my
approval. But if recognition in music is going to take place in
such a hyped manner, the accolades might as well go to the artists
who truly deserve it, right? Mike Prevatt