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Grammys, Shammys
Today I realized the Grammys were handed out yesterday. I’ve been less and less interested over the years as time and again they have proven to be a complete sham. They did try to make it up to the Beatles, sort of, half a**ed, but they are still digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole. They purport to give the statuettes to the BEST, but the reality is that it’s a blatant instrument of the nefarious industry, just like the Billboard rankings and everything else the industry puts out.
This year, Childish Gambino, with “This is America” swept the best record, best song, best performance and best video awards. Personally, I can’t call that a “song”, a collage of sounds may be more accurate, but whatever. The video starts with a man being shot -murdered- in the head with all the gory of his brains spilling out for all to see, and it doesn’t stop there. This video by the way, has nearly 500 MILLION views -allegedly- on YouTube. You could argue that this is an allegory of life in the world today, but can it be done without the gory and ugly visuals and sounds? Of course it can, but this is what the industry chooses to put out and champion. Pain, Violence, Anger.
The other big “winner” of the night was Kacey Musgraves, and while her music does have some harmony and melodic competence, if not mediocrity (which is a step up these days), it is so drenched in stick-it-down-your-throat syrupy blandness that it is hard to sit through, even her song “Butterflies”, which could have some interesting facets if explored honestly.
On the “Rock” category the “winners” for album are the young band “Greta Van Fleet”, which are nothing but a cheap flimsy see-through attempt at Led Zeppelin with no qualms about it. Like making a Xerox of Van Gough’s Starry Night and calling it an original masterpiece. The “Best Rock Song” was given to Masseduction, but it lacked any semblance to “Rock” or “Best” of anything. You’d think they are scraping the bottom of the barrel, but no, this is their multimillion earning best, or that’s what they want us to believe.
Pick ANY of the MonaLisa Twins songs and they run circles around any of these hacks which have been awarded golden statuettes.
To put the Grammys in perspective, from 1964 to 1970, The Beatles picked up only 6 Grammys: 4 as a group, one for John and Paul for writing Michelle, and one for Paul for singing Eleanor Rigby (plus 4 for cover art and engineering not awarded to them). Sgt Pepper’s was the only album to win Album of the Year (most of the other albums weren’t even nominated) and Michelle was the only “Song of the Year”, they never won “Record of the Year”, this is the Beatles we’re talking about. All this while they pretty much funded the whole music industry in the sixties. In 1965, “A Taste of Honey” won Record of the Year, no, not the Beatles’ performance, “Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass” with an instrumental version, which beat out Help, Yesterday, Ticket to Ride, Eight Days a Week, We Can Work it Out, etc, etc. In 1966 the “Best Performance for a Vocal Group” was given to “A Man and a Woman” (???), but the Grammys don’t have a record as to who they actually were (though it may be from a movie of the same name). This supposedly was better than Michelle, Nowhere Man, Eleanor Rigby, Paperback Writer, Here There and Everywhere, Yellow Submarine, anything on Revolver, etc. In 1967, “Record of the Year” went to 5th Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away”, rather than Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, I Am The Walrus or Hello, Goodbye.
In contrast, Kanye West has won 21 Grammys.
Clearly the Grammys do not stand up to the test of time. So why are the Grammys touted so much? Because they’re part of the industry’s machine, which wants to tell us what we should listen to and what should influence us. Just like the Billboard charts and streaming services, they are part of an industry controlled by the 3 studios, which make up their own rules, put out whatever they want and tinker with the numbers as they see fit.
**** Warning **** The following content might be disturbing to some and may shatter illusions **
The music industry, like the film industry, do not promote art nor the healthy evolution of us as human beings. They are a political money making/laundering machine benefiting from the exploitation -and pain- of talented and untalented people. Performing in shows like Eurovision, American Idol and the likes, require that one-sided contracts are signed before anything else. Not signing means that the entire music machine will not be available to them. Even if they were to sell more than anyone within the industry walls, they would never be recognized, and will never see any meaningful “charting” or “airplay”. This outside option however, is much better than the alternative. I’ll keep this PG, but suffice to say that I am over the moon that the MonaLisa Twins did not kneel to the industry. This way we get the joy of their true music and spirit, something that would not be possible had they bargained for a record “deal”.
Robert Schumann once said “The musician’s art is to bring light into people’s hearts”. Well, the MonaLisa Twins light up the world, without a doubt.
All those Grammy winners? They just writhe in the dark.
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5 Replies
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Today’s music industry/record labels and the associated awards institutions like the Grammys and a host of others are pushing entertainment and not art. It has nothing to do with whether the music is good, so long as it can be marketed and rake in the $$$. So all the mainstream music all kind of sounds the same and uninspired, and it’s getting worse every decade.
Good news is there may be a slow awakening for good music styles from the past as the current population gradually get fed up with the downward spiraling trend of modern pop music. Talented bands like MLT can bring good music back independent from the status quo music industry machine.
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Excellent piece Tomás. We are certainly fortunate that the MonaLisa Twins have selected the path they have and that Papa Rudi and Michaela have backed them all the way. Robert Schumann may have a point as the MonaLisa Twins truly ‘shine out like a shaft of gold when all around is dark’. And yes, I did pinch that from Monty Python’s “Oscar Wild’ sketch!
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I’ve not been a Grammys or any music awards fan for quite some time , perhaps since 1990…anything after that , well, it’s just not really music to my ears ….anything prior to 1990, yes, at least there was REAL MUSIC , in a sense, even some attempts to try and showcase halfdecent stuff. the stuff from 1990s – now, in whatever genre…just not the same…. it lacks the calibre, originality, true craftsmanship of musicianship…Besides MLT, there are probably a few RARE GENUINE MusicGems out there, but rare….. I’m not a fan of today’s music landscape for the most part , sorry to say…. I like but a few outside MLT and Glass Tiger…. I like the oldschool stuff…when not listening to MLT, oldschool stuff is my Go-To Backup Music Appreciation of….
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I lost interest in pop music after the early 90s and got into classical until discovering MLT 2 years ago.
I never associated Grammys to the great bands like the Beatles, Beach Boys Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin etc. Always remember these more soft rock or jazzy mediocre bands touting Grammys back then.
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Thanks Howard. In re-reading what I wrote, it seems I was a bit harsh on Kacey Musgraves, but it’s not her I’m criticizing, it’s the producers/label since I don’t think she has much control over her finished product. Most of these artists, including those in the studio, work their butts off to produce what the label asks for.
Jacki and Jung, it’s interesting that you mention the 90’s, because having freshly landed in LA in the 90’s playing in clubs at the time, I remember they almost shut down the Grammys all together because of the dreadful viewership and MTV was dominating the awards shows back then, still do mostly.
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