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10:28 PM Sun, Feb 10, 2008 | Permalink |
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| Grammys 2008: What did you think of the wins, losses, performances? »
I am. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters wins Album of the Year? I thought that the major awards would be split this year, but this is a left-field selection if ever there was one ... did the others all cancel themselves out? I think so: one rock album, one retro-pop album, one hip-hop album, one country album and one jazz album were nominated. And Herbie is by far the most revered name of the five throughout the industry. The curmudgeonly Grammy voter base strikes again! |
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Comments
Posted by stephen becker @ 10:41 PM Sun, Feb 10, 2008
Wow is right. I can't speak to whether or not Herbie is deserving of the award, seeing as I and everyone else watching the telecast have not heard a single note of it. But I do have to say that this will eventually be looked at in the same way that Steely Dan's Two Against Nature winning over The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem is -- a critically acclaimed massive seller losing to an album few people even knew was up for the award.
Posted by Ryan Welton @ 10:51 PM Sun, Feb 10, 2008
Actually, an upset here was pretty easy to predict. I did so earlier this week, noting that Amy should win but "watch out for Herbie Hancock."
Here's why: 1) The album was centered on Joni Mitchell's work, and Joni is revered by the academy. 2) Herbie is revered, but also 3) The album is really, really good.
Better than Kanye's. Sorry. I like Kanye, but at the end of the day, he's a rapper. He doesn't play an instrument. He doesn't and cannot sing (as he proved tonight). And the Grammy already created its category for people who cannot sing or play instruments. It's called Best Rap Album.
It's not being curmudgeonly. Actually, the opposite. It's an academy that is sticking to its guns relative to quality, and the majority of the music-playing populous still sees rap as a blight that, hopefully, will go away.
I'm not that extreme. I like a lot of rap, but I beg to differ regarding your comments about the academy being curmudgeonly. The Grammys are not a pop culture contest.
Posted by Mario Tarradell @ 10:55 PM Sun, Feb 10, 2008
I have heard the CD. And I interviewed Herbie Hancock for a GuideLive story that ran Saturday. Anyway, it's an accomplished record. Perhaps not the kind of CD you'd pop in frequently for fun. But it's definitely a piece of work. I'm not sorry he won.
Posted by Mike Daniel @ 11:23 PM Sun, Feb 10, 2008
Ryan: your argument makes sense, too, and it very well may be a combination of both your theory and mine that netted Herbie the award.
It's common knowledge that a sizeable number of Grammy voters vote for a name rather than for the actual subject of the award in question, much like voters in a political race vote for a name that they recognize if they aren't familiar with the candidates. Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and a number of others have commented on that. As Jay-Z put it, roughly: if you're a Grammy-winning rapper and you're voting in the Best Metal Performance category - or any category which you have little or no knowledge of the genre - how do you vote?
That's a big reason why many believe that that Grammys are a 'popularity contest.' In a sense, it is because of that effect. And though enough of the voters likely heard "River: The Joni Letters" to put it over the top, I'm thinking that it pulled even with the others based on Herbie's name recognition alone.
Posted by reed @ 10:38 AM Mon, Feb 11, 2008
speaking of UPSET...i am about this interview Dave Grohl did...Whyat was he thinking??!!
http://www.blender.com/news/comments.aspx?article=10472&src=tstdg
Posted by Christy Robinson @ 12:40 PM Mon, Feb 11, 2008
Reed: Hahahaha! Thanks for posting the link of that hilarious interview. It's not the most insightful or classy, but it def. wins the Christy Award for Funniest Interview of the Night.