Grammy Schmammy

Tonight, the music industry pats itself on the back.
Tonight is the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, and the instrument has not been invented that can measure my indifference to the program. I'm what most people would call a music snob. I've never been interested in popular music - mostly because it's popular. It's easy to turn on the radio and be spoon-fed music that some programmer has been paid to tell us we like. As for me, I prefer to do my own research and find musicians whom I feel are worthy of my attention, time and money.

I came of age during the so-called "progressive rock" era of the early 1970s, and my favorite musicians were bands like Gentle Giant, Focus, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. They were acquired tastes, and the music was challenging to listen to, but to me, that made it so much better.

My Grammy hatred comes from the 1972 Awards show, when "American Pie" was nominated for Best Song of the Year. It was a slam dunk to win, right? I was 15 years old, and awards shows were a big deal. I wanted to see my favorite performers win awards. These days, I couldn't give a crap, but I was a kid. Anyway, the award went to "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", a song that was written in 1957, and appeared on Roberta Flack's First Take album in 1969. I figured that if it was really deserving of a Best Song award, it would have won either in 1957 or 1969. Why was it winning now? Roberta Flack is a pretty good singer, but DAMN - over "American Pie"? It's the landmark song of its time. I figured that the media was pissed at Don McLean because he would never tell people what all the references meant, and they were giving him the shaft by not giving him the award.

The night of the program, he performed "Vincent", and I vowed to never watch another Grammy Awards show. It's 2006, and every year, more nonsense is nominated, and they overlook better music that either is not popular, or is not paying the promoters enough money to play it on the radio. They should just call the show what it is - The Popular Music Awards - The PMAs.
So, The Police are re-uniting? OK, great. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland can finally stop waiting by their telephones for Sting to run out of creative ideas and start cashing the checks. Just like the Super Bowl last week, this is just another TV show. It is not a celebration of great music.

It hasn't improved any since 1972, and I don't feel like I've missed a thing by missing all those shows. In fact, if a CD has a "Grammy Award Winner" sticker on it, I'm probably going to question my purchase, or figure that the award people have made some terrible mistake. These are the same people who thought Jethro Tull was "Heavy Metal" and created a category called "Alternative Music", and didn't put any alternative music artists in it. If they're popular enough to be nominated for a Grammy, they aren't alternative.

I'm very sensitive about music, and the hard work it takes to do it well. I hate when it is cheapened by stupid TV talent shows or ridiculous awards shows that fail to either award excellence or recognize great music.