Grammy Suckdom

I am open to new things.  I don't rigidly say "this is my music and that's not my music." Yet I couldn't stand more than 10 minutes of the Grammy's.  The whole vibe of it is some overwrought manic mashup of New Year's Rockin Eve, the Superbowl halftime show and Vegas.  Dreadful. 


There was a little bit of variety.  The Broadway tribute had Ben Platt of "Dear Evan Hansen" singing, "Somewhere" from West Side Story , and Patti LuPone doing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", which I think would have drawn a lot of viewers to the broadcast if there was any sort of decent publicity about it.

In the "this is my music" department, I thought U2 was sort of "generic U2"-ish.


I’m both a huge Broadway and major hip hop fan. Yes! Nice to see a diversity of artists front and center for a change. Everyone has a voice now and that doesn’t necessarily have to be filtered through a narrow lens.


patti was so good. Proud as well of Maplewood's own Sza.


Patti brought me to tears- beautiful. As did Kesha. 


Bruno is the ultimate showman- I don’t think that guy can sing a bad note. Should he have won? Maybe not, but he sure puts on a show and always looks like he’s having the most fun of anyone in the room. Kendrick Lamar was also great (Chapelle and U2 were good with him too).


U2’s new album is awful and they should just really be banned from singing any of it.


the Grammys have always been mash-up. Long before mash up and songs with guest artists were the rage. Some of the weirdest pairings in the world are what made it so exciting. There wasn’t enough of that last night.


I know I'm turning/have turned into a old goat when I so applaud the woman speaking up about sexual abuse and yet the young dancers both male and female are more unclothed than clothed.  

Sad,

I do feel SZA was robbed!

Best Regards,

Ron Carter


what people are wearing has nothing to do with sexual abuse.



Review from an old codger:

I felt sorry for Tony Bennett.  He's 91 and looked completely befuddled once the awardee was named.  Saw him in concert this year and he was great, but someone needed to get him off stage after the winner was announced.

I also wanted to be open-minded about the music, but even the stuff that was more to my liking, sucked.  At least there didn't appear to be any lip synching, as was evidenced by the off key performances of many.

I did love the Bruno Mars/Cardi B performance.  I thought that was the show stopper.

And I never did get the appeal of James Corden.  Okay, I get the karaoke joke, but that's his talent?  And the NYC subway bit was painful.

And Sting, who I love, also sucked.

Okay, I'm done.




agree on Cordon, subway bit and Sting. U2 also sucked as did Rihanna and DJ Khalid. Most of the country stuff sucked especially the off key mess honoring the Vegas victims. Pink was boring.  Elton John wasn’t as awful as I thought he’d be (at least until Miley joined) so there’s that. Bruno is a show stopper for sure.


Miley and Elton were great except for the dead animal on Elton's head.

conandrob240 said:

agree on Cordon, subway bit and Sting. U2 also sucked as did Rihanna and DJ Khalid. Most of the country stuff sucked especially the off key mess honoring the Vegas victims. Pink was boring.  Elton John wasn’t as awful as I thought he’d be (at least until Miley joined) so there’s that. Bruno is a show stopper for sure.



eh.Elton sounded pretty good for an old dude who lived a rough life. I am usually a fan of Miley because she can really sing but she’s been much, much better. 


Like RCarter31, I'm less than thrilled with the skimpy clothing on the dancers and also their writhing, humping, touch yourself "dancing".    I also hate the songs that degrade and disrespect women - including SZA's unless you think the song The Weekend that tells another woman "you can have him during the week 9-5, I'll take him for the weekend" is about a strong independent woman.  Supermodel is equally sad.   Compare her songs to the thoughtful and insightful lyrics on The Miseducaiton of Lauryn Hill.  She never had to sell her songs with skimpy clothing and debasing lyrics.  She's battled some demons, but in the beginning of her career, she was a class act all the way.

Yea, I'm old, now get off my lawn.


Lauryn Hill is surely talented but she was never, ever a “class act” unless that’s defined only in modesty of dress. I’m not so enamored by SZA either- not my thing. The lyrics and dancing doesn’t bother me, though, I’m just not into her music.


What on earth is a “class act”? Please define and give examples. Very curious.



soorlady said:

Like RCarter31, I'm less than thrilled with the skimpy clothing on the dancers and also their writhing, humping, touch yourself "dancing". 

****. If I'da known there was gonna be that, I would'a watched it.


Are you asking me? I’m not sure what soorlady meant when she described Lauryn Hill as a “class act”. 

annielou said:

What on earth is a “class act”? Please define and give examples. Very curious.




conandrob240 said:

Are you asking me? I’m not sure what soorlady meant when she described Lauryn Hill as a “class act”. 
annielou said:

What on earth is a “class act”? Please define and give examples. Very curious.

Like I said - in the beginning of her career she was a class act and I stand by that.  She was still in high school, maintaining high grades in AP classes while beginning a career in film and music.  I think she was on a soap too.  She was driven to succeed, but stayed true to who she was.  Her debut solo album won 5 Grammys - and deservedly so for its pure, thoughtful, insightful lyrics and artistry.  She started a non-profit to benefit at risk kids and she helped raise money for other projects.  And yes, for what it's worth, she was modestly dressed.   The early days.  


apparently conandrob240 does not feel as though this was quite enough to be a “class act”, says she was never ever a class act. So I just wondered who it is that does meet these very high standards in the music business.


I would not use the term class act for Lauryn Hill. I thought it funny that she was described as such mostly because she doesn't let her boobies hang out. There's more to the measure of a person than how they dress. She has squandered her talent, committed tax evasion, and she is disrespectful to her fans who pay to see her "perform". She doesn't pop to mind as a role model or class act to me. (She doesn't jump out as some horrible example either). One brilliant album though for sure.


so u r sure who “isn’t”, but I asked who “is”


I was simply responding to a post calling Lauryn Hill a class act. And yes, in my opinion she is not.


annielou said:

so u r sure who “isn’t”, but I asked who “is”



To all of this...Oy. 


Now, to legitimately critique the show I would agree that the Grammys are typically a hot mess mash-up of the year in music.  I think they achieved this with the pop, hip hop, R&B and country acts. All top names playing their hits. But where was rock? Sting and U2? Nope. That’s where the Grammys just phoned it in. 



Hahaha said:

Now, to legitimately critique the show I would agree that the Grammys are typically a hot mess mash-up of the year in music.  I think they achieved this with the pop, hip hop, R&B and country acts. All top names playing their hits. But where was rock? Sting and U2? Nope. That’s where the Grammys just phoned it in. 

I totally agree about the Rock category - not one performance from an act that was actually nominated. 


Frankly, I’ll be glad when the rock fans board their trolleys and stop harping on this year after year. That era is done. And good riddance. 


Anyone who knows me knows that I look for, enjoy and share music that is out of the mainstream but still compelling, creative and expertly performed - from this country and from around the world.  

Ergo, I detest the Grammys. Such an incredibly limited and commercial view of music. Pop and Top 40. Radio hits. Of course it is a commercial endeavor that supports the recording industry so I should expect no less. But the show celebrates music that you hear on your car radio. No more no less.

A piece in the NYT today expresses this view much better than I could. See link. The article positions hip-hop as the monolithic core of pop music of the future and I'm not sure I see it that way, but it's a fascinating and insightful perspective nonetheless.

Pop Keeps Changing. And the Grammys Turn a Deaf Ear, Again.




conandrob240 said:

agree on Cordon, subway bit and Sting. U2 also sucked as did Rihanna and DJ Khalid.

I like that new U2 song about Bono's offshore tax shelters.  It has kind of a reggae beat. What is next for these Irish rebels?  I predict that Mr. The Edge will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth.


I have a cousin who has won multiple grammies .    Every year they send him the ballots for him to vote on the awards.  He has no clue who 80% of the musicians are and can't understand why he is being asked to vote in categories he knows nothing about.   He says to fix the voting system, previous winners should only be able to vote in the same genre they won.   He will leave a lot of blanks on his application.  But you can see that many others vote for the most popular names or songs.  

Time for them to completely redo their system of selecting winners (and nominees).  



In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.

Sponsored Business

Find Business

Advertise here!