Thursday, February 9, 2006

CHEER UP, KANYE: The Chicago Tribune's Mark Caro points out that Kanye West has some good company when it comes to not taking home album of the year honors at the Grammys. Caro looks at just the years 1968 and '69 when The White Album, Astral Weeks, Odyssey and Oracle (please, if you don't own this album, buy it now), Abbey Road, Dusty in Memphis, and Let It Bleed, among others, were snubbed and Glen Campbell's By the Time I Get to Phoenix and Blood, Sweat, and Tears' self-titled album took home the hardware.

It's actually a fun game to play (though somewhat difficult due to the Grammys' odd eligibility timing--the cutoff is September). Take the 1985 awards (which honored albums released from September 1983 to September 1984). Among those albums that failed to beat out Lionel Richie's seminal Can't Slow Down: Born in the USA, Purple Rain (both of which were nominated, and it should be noted that the superior Nebraska and 1999 lost to Toto IV two years before), The Replacements' Let It Be, Husker Du's Zen Arcade, Run-D.M.C's and The Smiths' self-titled debuts, Stop Making Sense, Reckoning, and Unforgettable Fire. Hell, even 1984 would have been a better choice.

It's a fun game. I invite you to play in the comments. Pick a year and find at least a half-dozen classics that failed to beat out an album you couldn't even sell to a used CD shop today. I'm guessing the 1979 awards (remember this is CDs released in 1977-78), where Christopher Cross (Grammy hearts Yacht Rock) beat out Pink Floyd is a good place to start.

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