On Sunday, I stood on the red carpet in my black dress and asked musician after musician rapid-fire questions. I asked one question of just about everyone: With the industry in turmoil and new promotional methods on the rise, how do you think the Grammys will change in the next few years? Here are the answers, some personally motivated, some a little apathetic, but definitely all over the map.
Mika:
I think the Grammys are already changing. They are only going to have to change to keep up with what’s going on. I’m halfway through my third sellout tour in the U.S. We’ve played 10,000-seat venues to 2,000 in Salt Lake City last night. We’ve done the gamut, but my sales, my radio support, really doesn’t reflect that. But it shows that you can have quite a thriving live career and only get bigger and bigger even if the traditional radio chart isn’t really on your side all the time. And I think that’s purely a sign of optimism and something you really have to relish, because I certainly intend on building my career…. I’m going to build on it live, and that’s really the crux for me in the U.S.
Amy Lee of Evanescence:
It’s a really tough question. The whole industry is in a place where it has to be adjusted…. One really cool thing that’s happening with all this is that artists get to have these direct connections with the fans. You don’t have to have a press release, you can just go online and say what you want to say, answer a question or squelch a rumor. Whatever it is, you have that opportunity. There’s negatives to that, of course, but it’s basically a good thing.
I, for one, wasn’t mad at all that Herbie Hancock won album of the year Sunday night — “River: the Joni Letters” was on my Top 10 too. But let’s not forget that the goddess herself released some outstanding music last year too: “Shine,” her Hear Music debut, was brilliantly cranky and shimmeringly wise. You’d never know it from Sunday night’s broadcast (which was alarmingly light on actual awards), but Joni got a tiny gramophone too — in the best pop instrumental performance category, for the album-opener “One Week Last Summer.” You can read reviews of “Shine” (including mine) at the lovingly maintained fansite.
And here’s a link to another track from “Shine,” the slinky “Night of the Iguana.”
Preeminent Jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock received three more Grammy nominations this year — for album of the year, best contemporary jazz album and best jazz instrumental solo. Tonight, he added to the 10 he already has by winning album of the year for “River: The Joni Letters.”
Hancock has had a career that has spanned, to employ the cliche, the sublime to the ridiculous; high art to the crassly commercial. There was never a slow decline, as with so many other important jazz artists of the ’60s. He’s managed to mix it up and come out smelling of roses and earning the respect of everyone in the industry.
One of the flashpoints for Grammy weekend’s early start last night was Fuse’s unofficial bash at new Hollywood club Goa. Featuring a live performance by Panic at the Disco, the cable channel’s bash may not have been official, but that didn’t stop a massive line from forming in front of the trendy spot. Paparazzi and gawkers packed the sidewalks of Cahuenga, taking in the motley mix of B-listers (Brittany Snow, Simon Rex, etc.) who were escorted inside where Fuse’s demographic was not exactly well-represented. Thirtysomething junior execs marveled at the Indian-themed decor and sari-clad female bartenders with exposed midriffs.
Last night, In Style magazine and the Recording Academy celebrated musicians-turned-designers such as Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jessica Simpson and Justin Timberlake. Of course, none of them were actually there, but models with jutting hip bones showed off their wares in a quick fashion show united by a love of Skittles- colored tights and extroverted pop attitude. There was free champagne. Rihanna, in red glassy lips and her latest hairstyle (will it give rise to the tiny backhawk?), closed the show with a flawlessly confidant performance, one that made it hard to believe she’s only 19. But did I mention there was free champagne?
Amy Winehouse will perform at the Grammys — but from a satellite feed in London. (UPDATE: She was granted her visa from the US Embassy, but because of logistics, the beehive will still not land stateside.) So does that mean the current six-time nominee got out of rehab for good? No, no, no, but we’ll take it.
Other added performers: Kanye West, John Mayer and BeBe Winan.
The Grammy week celebration that brought a well-heeled crowd to the Four Seasons Hotel ballroom Wednesday got a little out of hand right off the bat. Somebody asked the evening’s honored guests, songwriters and producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, to name their favorite of the thousands of songs they’ve created together.
“I’d have to go back to the first one,” said Huff. “ ‘Cowboys to Girls,’ by the Intruders.”
Moments later, the crowd started shouting.
“Back Stabbers”!
“If You Don’t Know Me by Now”!
“You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”!
“ ‘Love Is the Message’ by MFSB! I had that one on eight-track!”
“You must be older than me,” the 64-year-old Gamble replied, chuckling, to that particular fan.
It’s hard to decide on one Gamble and Huff song. Not only did these favorite sons of Philadelphia shape soul classics by the O’Jays, the Spinners, the Three Degrees, Lou Rawls and Teddy Pendergrass, but their adventurous arrangements also set the template for disco, and their grooves still inform hip-hop.
These two are so wee, so cute, so capable on those decks that it hurts to watch this video. DJ Sara, 8, and DJ Ryusei, 5, will be making their U.S. debut at the Warner Grammy party this weekend. Don’t spill any liquor on their wax, yo; they’re reputed to deliver the harshest of beat-downs. (Yeah, right!)
Now that Super Tuesday has proven inconclusive on all fronts, let’s engage in some unfounded speculation: Might any of the presidential candidates show up at Sunday’s Grammy Awards?
The Repubs will likely stay home -– despite Mike Huckabee’s electric bass skills and Burt Bacharach’s reported fondness for John McCain, their support among pop stars is generally thin. Ron Paul can claim only Arlo Guthrie. (You can check out who’s supporting whom here.)
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, however, are still vying for the pop star vote as well as the popular one. A quick and dirty survey of Grammy nominees reveals Clinton with six nominated stumpers — Madonna, Tony Bennett, Jon Bon Jovi, 50 Cent, Timbaland and Barbra Streisand -– and Obama with five — Ne-Yo, Usher, Harry Connick Jr., Win Butler of Arcade Fire and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
Will.i.am, Obama’s most active pop pal of late, didn’t earn any noms for his commercial flop of a solo album, but he’ll likely be on hand to pop the cork with Fergie if she takes a statue home. We could definitely see the irrepressible Black Eyed Pea pulling Barry onstage for a chorus of Fergie’s “Glamorous.”
And Hillary should really dump that Celine campaign song for an all-American medley of her pal Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “(You Want to) Make a Memory.” Although seeing her do the freak with Justin during 50’s “Ayo Technology”…. OK, that seems unlikely. But hey, there’s always Timbaland. He did wonders for Nelly Furtado. He could get the uber baby-boomer candidate out of her cultural rut!
In the meantime, check out Oh! Industry’s excellent roundtable of dedications to favorite candidates.
I think the Grammys are already changing. They are only going to have to change to keep up with what’s going on. I’m halfway through my third sellout tour in the U.S. We’ve played 10,000-seat venues to 2,000 in Salt Lake City last night. We’ve done the gamut, but my sales, my radio support, really doesn’t reflect that. But it shows that you can have quite a thriving live career and only get bigger and bigger even if the traditional radio chart isn’t really on your side all the time. And I think that’s purely a sign of optimism and something you really have to relish, because I certainly intend on building my career…. I’m going to build on it live, and that’s really the crux for me in the U.S.
The Grammy week celebration that brought a well-heeled crowd to the Four Seasons Hotel ballroom Wednesday got a little out of hand right off the bat. Somebody asked the evening’s honored guests, songwriters and producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, to name their favorite of the thousands of songs they’ve created together.
