DO YOU THINK I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT A GRAMMY? As I note
every year, the awards presented at the Grammys each year are forgettable, but the performances,
for the past few years, are not. God bless YouTube for finding some of my favorites from recent years:
- 2003: Joe Strummer tribute with Springsteen, Costello, Grohl and Van Zandt thrashing "London Calling"
- 2003: the most excellent Roots band backing Eminem on "Lose Yourself"
- 2004: Prince & Beyonce medley, about which I said at the time, off by two years, "If that's what Prince is going to be like in five years when he starts playing Vegas, I'll send in my $125 right now" and now is recognizable as the Super Bowl medley done backwards
- 2004: a Black Eyed Peas performance of "Where's The Love" w/Timberpants that just keeps building
- my absolute favorite -- a 2005 tribute to Janis Joplin with Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone, Etheridge's first post-cancer performance, and words cannot describe just how awesome it is.
- 2005: Kanye, Jamie. The FAMU marching band. Gold. Digger. Completely, wonderfully excessive, as opposed to a more subdued Mr. Foxx joining Alicia Keys on "Georgia On My Mind".
- And just because it's so weird to even say this -- from 2006, Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Paul McCartney throw down together.
And a few blasts from the past, while you're with us this weekend: in 1985, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder performed "a tribute to synthesizers". Big hair! Big keytars!
Go watch. And from 1980, well,
it's a triumph for My People, and for the Isro. Finally, I can't make this post
and forget about the ODB accepting an award for which he wasn't nominated or the legendary
"Soy Bomb". This year's performers include:
Earth, Wind & Fire, Mary J. Blige and Ludacris in a James Brown tribute; Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Chris Brown in an "R&B" tribute; Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, Wyclef Jean, John Legend, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rascal Flatts, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, the Police, Carrie Underwood, James Blunt and T.I.
Also, make your predictions for who gets the loudest non-James Brown necrology applause (Ahmet Ertegun), and what time the annual "stop stealing our music, kids!" lecture is delivered. Or, I guess, express your predictions and hopes for
the awards themselves. I'll probably liveblog tomorrow, though this is the kind of thing for which TiVo was invented.
No comments:
Post a Comment