02/14/2005: "A Grammy for the Grammy's"

music: Indigo Girls
mood: whatever.

Well after a ho hum difficult weekend of project management, puzzle piecing, and a great but depressing play, I sat down to watch the Grammy’s Sunday night for some mind numbing entertainment and was pleasantly surprised at the highest production value of any awards show since he 1996 Oscars. (Braveheart wins, babe is nominated, Il Postino, Deadman Walking, Usual Suspects, Sense and Sensibility, the Gene Kelly dance tribute and George Burns clips and Whoppi Goldberg Hosts).

This was a show where the performers were allowed creative, Broadway caliber sets and lighting to perform with, had a WIDE variety of presenters and performers and were really allowed to have fun and jam with each other, some legends and do their thing. The guests were having as great a time as the performers. It was creatively and technically presented in a way that kept things moving. The audience gave a standing ovation to almost every act, which I have never seen, I don't know what they were passing out at the door, but it was contagious in theliving room watchin on the tv) the candid zooms to people in the audience never revealed a snippet of boredom and there was very little political undertone or negativity. Tribute was the theme and there were two that stood out by far.

Melissa Ethridege and Joss Stone did an AMAZING tribute to Janis Joplin, better than Janis even with Take another little piece of my heart. Joss was barefoot and Melissa strikingly bald as a result of her chemo for Breast Cancer. They were just amazing, feeling it.

There was also a tribute to Gospel combined with Rapper Kayne West’s “Jesus Walks” Which I had never heard, IN fact I had heard some of the gospel songs from various film but not his rap song. The music and the dancing and the COSTUMING for this number was phenomenal. I was in fact riveted. The set was a southern church with stained glass and the pews of dancers of all shapes and sizes were excellent. Kayne had 10 nominations and may have had a Ricky martin moment there, because even though he obviously had a album of merit to be nominated, I think a LOT of people noticed him for the first time. Clean rap is hard to do and though the confidence was still behind it, it was a good message and a great charismatic performance, with hydrolics, shadow screens, and again, the dancing was just groovy.

Other Great performances and tributes included, a stellar opening act with Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand (SOOOO cute, love those boys), The Black eyed peas, Gwen Stefani (with an excerpt of If I were a rich man from fiddler on the roof called Rich Girl) and Los Lonely Boys ( OVERPLAYED song, but when they won later on they thanked their dad and he stood up and he was in his Mariachi Styled coat and hat, very cute, so e cut them some slack, however they were also one of only 2 people to thank god in their speech so they get points taken away. So the greatest part about this opening was they all sang a few verses of their big hit songs (except for Gwen, and by the way was wearing absolute crap but looked stunning, bitch.) on 4 different stages, and then they all combined portions of their songs at the same time for a kind of 5 part harmony. I have never seen that done live and it took total vision to see the 5 different songs would all fit together. There as no doubt a DJ behind it who had been fooling around with tracks. Reflective of the music community these days. Less competition, more creation, cooperation and having a good time. They all enjoyed their time on stage. Did I already mention that.

Usher ( who I am not a huge fan of) is admittedly great. He’s got the moves, and anyone who can dance like that AND sing without even appearing out of breath is a star. In my next life I am coming back as not just a threat, but a triple threat. He did his thing and I was all impressed and thinking he’s like a young Michael Jackson without the lawyers, and THEN James brown came out. They must have gotten him out of jail just long enough to perform and boy did he. He pretty much blew usher away, and he was humble enough to know it. The Godfather of Soul is nearly 72 years old, and spent some hard years, and damn…he still enjoys performing. Which leads me to an interesting tangent…

The music industry is an interesting one. It doesn’t advertise open condoning of certain negative and illeagal behaviors but it doesn’t hide them or seemingly discourage them either. It kind of makes excuses for them when asked but is on a don’t ask don’t tell kind of system. Musicians like many artists are almost expected to lead deviant, tortured, dangerous, self deprecating, masochistic lives. The edge is supposedly the inspiration to soulful, honest music, almost as if music itself IS the only way a musician can be honest. Maybe music is the inner child, maybe it is the least and simultaneously the most mature facet we have to our personalities, and those with talent are maybe exposed to a business structure and environment that works against the inner child, turning passion into homework.

The ones unable to cope end up dead of overdose, suicide, rotting in prison which stifles the art even further, cutting off that which is like air or those that “succeed” at best breaking hearts, having their own broken, and getting a few songs out of the experience to purge and/or justify the behavior. Generalizations yes, I’m sure there must be a few clean cut artists out there that aren’t susceptible to extremes and those that have put their dark sides to rest and still are able to create music, and still some may have the word commitment in their vocabulary and I’m not talking about commitment to the music, because it was that commitment that got them in trouble in the first place.

IS music a state of trouble then? I think that puts an unfair spin on it, but certainly music and the “expected” life that goes with it seems a hard addiction to break in and of itself. I know I would go mad (er) if I didn’t do SOMETHING creative, and some of my most honest writing comes from hurt, but some of the best also comes from intense joy. Then again, if I’m living joy I feel more obligated to live it then to write or sing about it. Is it that in order to create the art you have to seek out new experiences and allow vulnerability and that vulnerability can allow lapses in judgement? Is it the music life style that makes an artist seek out that dark side, and seek a way to numb the vicious cycle of pain that it creates by the consequences? Someone shold do a chemical study of all the musicians, find out what makes these people more willing, attacted to or predisposed to harming themselves physicall, emotionally and mentally and if there is a "healthy" substitue as a catalyst to Art. I am working on a written one act about a Gurdain Angel that goes in for a job transfer to Muse and the boss tries to explain that being a muse is often times not the stereotypical lovey dovey job it's made up to be, so I've been thinking alot about WHERE art comes from. Music is a beast of it's own. how many times has " I thought he was dead" come up....not becuase of the lack of music produced, but becuase of the drugs he/she did that surely would have killed a lesser person. Maybe they are more suseptable but maybe they are more able to cope with it? I don't know, seems like as long as you have money to burn sex and drug will inevitably be the "down" side of Rock and roll....anyway...

I saw Ray this weekend as well and was SHOCKED at the film and the research I did on Ray Charles. Had NO idea he was a philandering bastard and a heroin addict for 20 years( although based one what I've just been writing it would seem I feel this is par for the course) I tell you I like his music, but I would rather not know about how mean he was to himself and to others in his life. He created music before he started his "musician life style" and did just fine. I do not subscribe to the "NEED" factor. Artists WANT more than they NEED most of the time but are prone to histrionics and complicate things more then they ought Ithink.To be honest I was more irritated by his first wife who knew about all the affairs, the children that her was having out of the marriage and the drugs and stuck with him. And then again, in love, and in belief of a talent, and in fear that he indeed would not survive if it weren’t for her I totally understand why she left him only after he had been off the drug for 10 years and made a comeback in his music. Perhaps she didn't save him, perhaps she was no inspiration, but for whatever reason they both decided to stay together for over 20 years....Admiration and frustration make for volatile but passionate bedfellows.

And at least there is no hypocracy in where the awards go, no matter how you get there, music seems less political and more accepting of the vulnerabilities (perhaps because they know the lucrative nature of the weaknesse) and certainly awards the child molestors, wife beaters, alcholoics and drug addicts along with the upstanding god fearin’ republicans and the “normal” folk alike. Here’s a double feature for you, Ray and What’s Love Got to Do With It? Tough stuff to watch. Ray gets 3 out of 4 Rutger Hauers for brining a great story to the screen and a character to life even though I didn’t like the message. See I can be fair too. Perhaps music is one of the only arenas where a weakness can be a strength. Certainly something to think on.

Back to the Grammy’s

The Tsunami effort song, they sung across the universe (a Beatles song) and made the song downloadable on itunes. Effective use of marketing, charity, and technology. Even more effective use of some VERY distinct voices. Bono, Steven Tyler (on Maracas in addition to vocals, not sure when maracas made official rock instruments but leave it to Aerosmith to make it cool.) Nora Jones, Stevie Wonder (vocals and a mean harmonica solo) Velvet Revolver( Ex guns and rose guitarist slash and Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots band), Billy Joe from Green day (LOVE HIM, sigh) and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Great song, GREAT performers is a bit cheesy. The censors let it slide this time. No ego up there and that’s what I loved. A very “we are the world” experience.

Final Thoughts…eyeliner on men is still sexy (The boys from Greenday are so cute), Gwen Stefani does have SOME cellulite, I saw it jiggle, so there, J-lo looked pregnant or he dress was two sizes too big, I hope when I am famous I don’t die the same year as someone MORE famous, I find the fact that TWO tributes in one show to Ray Charles and less then 2 minutes for everyone else in music who died that year to be a bit…cheap. Keep athlestes off the stage ( this means you Lance Armstrong, I don't care how fast your ridde your bike or how excited you are to be dating Sheryl Crow, no soup for you) Tennis shoes with a suit is the small act of rebellion that makes my day, and Ellen Degeneres and her new girlfriend Portia De Rossi of ally Mcbeal fame are a good looking couple. That’s more than enough for now.

Winner of the week: The producers of music and the managers. I don’t know a single producer in music I don’t think by name. Even film and stage directors, even executive TV producers have more clout than music producers. To those truly behind the scenes keeping the candles burning at both ends but making sure the musicians don’t set them selves on fire freebasing, you all rock. I may not know your names, but I am sure you have your work cut out for you. Way to go.