via Wikipedia, Norah Jones won 7 Grammys in 2003 and she has won 3 more since then. That’s more than Adele won last night yet we don’t hear about Norah anymore. She’s still working but we don’t really recognize her. Does talent just go away? Did Norah Jones suddenly lose her talent and ability and thus we no longer award her with awards? No but I’m sort of bent out of shape over how we give out awards and subsequently congratulate award winners.
“She really deserved this” I heard a lot of people speaking about Adele and her Grammy win on sunday night. How did Adele deserve it more than any other artist? Did she deserve it more than Beyone or Eminem? What about the non-popular artists around the world including those without recording contracts. For the Grammys to truly award those in the music industry and make a statement, you need to move on from the popular and edgy cool stuff today and branch out to those who are amazing but yet don’t receive air-time on the standard stations.
Was Adam Levine actually the best person to kick-off a tribute to The Beach Boys? I’m sure there were other more capable talent to do the job so why was Adam picked? Why not Third Eye Blind or Counting Crows? Why not Blind Melon? Oh, those groups are no longer popular. They have talent but they’re not popular and there simply isn’t enough human mind-share to give a crap about more than 20-50 celebrities at once. In truth, it’s much less because we don’t share any similarities with celebrities and thus find it difficult to care about more than a handful at once. This leaves a lot of artists out and your luck can shift from turning down offers to begging for mall openings within 6 months and it’s not fair in my eyes.
Last night, the most telling aspect of the performance was Foo Fighters’ win of a Grammy for best Rock Performance. I don’t like their music but some people do and they are talented guys. Their commitment to music and ability to maintain relevance for so many years is remarkable. Here’s that acceptance speech (via):
“This is a great honour, because this record was a special record for our band. Rather than go to the best studio in the world down the street in Hollywood and rather than use all of the fanciest computers that money can buy, we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine…
“To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do.
“It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head].”
Well said and this applies to any craft. Do you want to write a book? Buy a notebook. You don’t need an expensive computer to write a book or make an album or develop an app. The tools are attainable and the barrier of entry is simple. It was a great message.
Then, as the group exited the stage, an over-produced catchy pop song from LMFAO played them off. That album was created entirely within a studio and maintaining a flow was all these guys had to do. Maybe people will care about them next year but maybe they won’t but the song really showcases what I see which is award shows glorify the cool right now and do little to talk about what last year’s winners are doing. Going to the Grammys two years in a row is a rare thing for new artists and it shouldn’t be. Not every musician can attend that owns a guitar but I feel there’s a way to reimagine this. Where was Norah Jones last night? She was there (according to tweets) but she received no air time. I guess Katy Perry’s blue hair is more important.