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February 13, 2005 3:18 PM   Subscribe

How to Watch the Grammys. The drummer for "Closing Time" Semisonic writes an amusing bit on The Grammy Awards, for those unsophisticated as to watch.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket (42 comments total)
 
This is really good. And Semisonic was formerly Trip Shakespeare, a criminally ignored band.
posted by bardic at 3:40 PM on February 13, 2005


The title of his memoir is "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star."

The first page reads "Oh, you really do? Then you should look elsewhere. I have very little information on that subject. This book is about my garden."
posted by stilts at 3:49 PM on February 13, 2005


that is good--thanks.
posted by amberglow at 4:02 PM on February 13, 2005


Being the sucker for candy-coated, geeky American college rock that I am, I just love Semisonic. I used to read Jacob's tour diary a lot, but it's now defunct in favour of his book. Good piece Mr. Bucket, thanks.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:42 PM on February 13, 2005


My favourite entry ibid, BTW.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:43 PM on February 13, 2005


I didn't realize so many of the awards- 95 of 107, according to the article- are passed out beforehand. How do they decide which ones are presented on TV? Britney Spears won a Grammy this afternoon for "Toxic" (best dance track), and I can't figure out for the life of me why they didn't televise that award, seeing as the song was a shoo-in, imho.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:01 PM on February 13, 2005 [1 favorite]


because she's over, TPS.
posted by amberglow at 5:06 PM on February 13, 2005


And crazy- which is exactly why I want to see her on TV in all her trashy glory!! Don't the Grammys realize what people wnat to see?!?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:08 PM on February 13, 2005 [1 favorite]


lol! so far, the opening was good, but i'm already tired of that black-eyed peas song. Queen Latifah got fat, too.
posted by amberglow at 5:18 PM on February 13, 2005


I like Semisonic and watching the Grammy awards. The opening number was fantastic!

Color me cornfed.
posted by maggieb at 5:33 PM on February 13, 2005


I've been boycotting the grammys ever since the Metallica/Jethro Tull debacle.
posted by jonmc at 5:36 PM on February 13, 2005


alicia keyes was good--good thing she's not related to Allan.

mark antony and jlo now--her 15 minutes were up quite a while ago, and she still can't sing.
posted by amberglow at 5:57 PM on February 13, 2005


i think Ricky Martin came with Jeff Gannon/Guckert ; >
posted by amberglow at 6:02 PM on February 13, 2005


Didn't the Milli Vanilli debacle predate the Metallica/Jethro Tull debacle? That was the one that did me in.
posted by psmealey at 6:09 PM on February 13, 2005


psmealey: The night of the Milli Vanilli debacle, I was at CBGB's seeing Crossfire Choir and Nuclear Valdez and some other bands whose names escape me. The guitarist made an announcement about how disgusted he was and the audience hooted loudly in agreement.

The Metallica/Tull thing happend when I was still in high school. I'm a big Tull fan but they deserved that Grammy like Elvis deserved his black belt. The rap Grammy that year was disgraceful as well, going to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince over Public Enemy, among others.

But as Dave Marsh put it, for the rap award to be as disgraceful as the Metal/Hard Rock one, it would've had to go to Lou Rawls.
posted by jonmc at 6:14 PM on February 13, 2005


it always goes to the most acceptable and mainstream of artists--Maroon 5 just won.
posted by amberglow at 6:23 PM on February 13, 2005


Jay Z was r.o.b.b.e.d. (and so were the Beasties but not so much.)
posted by maggieb at 6:56 PM on February 13, 2005


did Melissa Etheridge have chemo? or is it a look?
posted by amberglow at 7:04 PM on February 13, 2005


A look, I hope. I am impressed. She almost pulled off the Janis scream. Pink would have done better than Joss, imho.
posted by maggieb at 7:11 PM on February 13, 2005


Joss is too young still.
posted by amberglow at 7:27 PM on February 13, 2005


I'm still trying to weigh out whether it was cool that Franz Ferdinand, whom I like, tried to put their little indie spin on the opening, or if they've totally jumped the shark, merely one album in.

Takers?
posted by bardic at 7:55 PM on February 13, 2005


Wasn't Queen Latifah always fat?
posted by xmutex at 7:57 PM on February 13, 2005


yeah, but she gained a lot more weight--or--a terrible terrible dress (there's a lot of that going around this year)

bardic: i say shark, but i'm old anyway. GreenDay actually kinda redeemed themselves in my eyes with American Idiot, tho.
posted by amberglow at 8:01 PM on February 13, 2005


Bitches. Queen Latifah was always phat.
posted by bardic at 8:05 PM on February 13, 2005


amber: I never understood Green Day, but they never struck me as too horribly corporate at heart, e.g., Pearl Jam.

on preview: Pearl Jam deserves more credit than that. I apologize Eddie. But Modest Mourse--there's a band that seems to have its moral/economic compass figured out.

second preview: It was kind of punk of Green Day to make as much money as they did. So I heart them I guess.
posted by bardic at 8:08 PM on February 13, 2005


La Latifah in 2003

Green Day always struck me as an equivalent to Avril Lavigne--fake rebel neopunky pop, but corporate underneath--maybe they're not?
posted by amberglow at 8:11 PM on February 13, 2005


I think that's the most clothing I've ever seen Jennifer Lopez wear to an awards show. Ever. Once Mark draped the shawl on, she was actually covered neck to foot.

Then I realized I only ever watch her for the mostly nekkid bits.
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:17 PM on February 13, 2005


Did Slash get a nosejob? He looked different to me.
posted by bobo123 at 8:24 PM on February 13, 2005


I guess that as an aging hipster, I deep down still want Fugazis and Sleater Kinneys to emerge everywhere, but having known some talented, virtuous musicians who have tried to make it on their own terms (Jawbox?) (Shudder to Think?) (Aforementioned, Trip Shakespeare), I guess the good fight still has to be faught, smelly vans and all.

I'm at a point where it's like, hell yeah, go for it Green Day. Your music is entirely non-original, but maybe you'll be the show where some kid realizes that music doesn't have to be as wretched as Simple Plan or The Used or The Exies.

God, I need to grow up.

On preview: I've met people from the bands I like, but by no means do I "know" them in a personal sense. But I've lived in the DC area long enough to know people who know people regarding their struggles.
posted by bardic at 8:24 PM on February 13, 2005


I'm about 70% certain that was some random dude dressed as Slash!
posted by edlundart at 8:31 PM on February 13, 2005


I'm about 70% certain that was some random dude dressed as Slash!

It could have been my best freind from high school. He was a dead ringer for him.
posted by jonmc at 8:41 PM on February 13, 2005


It would be kind of postmodern if it turns out it was Buckethead.
posted by edlundart at 8:46 PM on February 13, 2005


Ohhh, Latifah.

I would hit it so hard all y'all on the East Coast would hear the slappin'.

/boyzone
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:05 PM on February 13, 2005


Yes, Melissa Etheridge just ended chemo, per her conversation with Starr Jones on the Green Carpet.

It was strange, seeing the Tsunami-iTunes-WeAreTheWorld number, with Weiland and Billy Joe Armstrong singing a Beatles tune with the other notables.
posted by VulcanMike at 9:21 PM on February 13, 2005


Breast cancer treatment no longer assumes hair loss. Either way, Melissa was making a statement, so get used to it. I can go to bed happy because Genius Loves Company.
posted by maggieb at 10:36 PM on February 13, 2005


I have to agree with what Bono said - I think this was one of the best - if not the best - Grammy ceremonies I've seen, with a great deal of respect paid to both modern and more classic music.

Personally, I think Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge were both pretty great with the Joplin tribute.

The Tsunami tribute was also a nice touch, though the Association president's attempt to shoehorn music downloading into his jaw-droppingly bad speech was infuriating. That he essentially opened with the Tsunami tribute and used it as a stepstool to a soapbox (almost equating them along the way) almost destroyed the whole event for me. Still, all in all, as good as any Grammys I think I've ever seen, maybe better.
posted by Sinner at 11:23 PM on February 13, 2005


Forgot to mention that as nice a gesture as I felt the Tribute was, let's just say I don't expect to buy the single any day soon.
posted by Sinner at 11:34 PM on February 13, 2005


Did anyone else notice how they changed the lyric from "nothing's gonna change my world" to "something's gonna change my world" at the end of the tsunami thing? So. Lame.

I was happy that Wilco won best alternative album, though, even if they didn't televise it. There was pretty stiff competition in that one, too - Bjork, Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, and (I forget). But good for Wilco.
posted by pikachulolita at 12:51 AM on February 14, 2005


-Ooh! Trip Shakespeare! Turtledove was a fave forever. Never knew about the Semisonic connection, though.

-"Across the Universe:" I was noticing the irony of the "nothing's gonna change my world" line when near the end they changed it to "something's gonna change my world." Heh.

-"Across the Universe" was just kind of lackluster.

-Amazing how in two years Michael Greene has gone from "Don't ever download" to "Please download now."

-That opening medley was epic. I thought they were going to use up all their acts in the first five minutes. On the final Blackeyed Peas/Los Lonely Boys/Franz Ferdinand/Gwen Stefani/Maroon 5 shout chorus it was obvious that the Mashup has gone mainstream. Props to someone for making [i]that[/i] work.

-Melissa Etheridge pwn3'd Joss Stone.

-The Southern Rock medley just bit. I hear bar bands every week cover those songs with more skill and enthusiasm. With a sense of pitch, too.

-Usher sure can dance.

-I need a Hammond of my own. I'm tired of borrowing.
posted by sourwookie at 1:12 AM on February 14, 2005


bardic is my bro'

I saw someone compare Green Day and and Avril Lavigne up above, and that kind of pissed me off (well, sort of). Not that Green Day isn't complete Jam/Buzzcocks/Sex Pistols derivative, but they don't suck that much. I saw them play at the Crocodile (Seattle) before they were old enough to even be in there, and they still rocked, as much as I didn't want to like them. Avril Lavigne is Jessica Simpson in eyeliner and studded bracelets. The music is the same insipid mass produced crap that MTV shits out by the metric ton.
posted by psmealey at 6:30 AM on February 14, 2005


bardic: Ferdinand have jumped teh shark
posted by TheDonF at 2:49 AM on February 16, 2005


sourwookie: I was almost worrying that Joss Stone was going to run offstage, Etheridge was so outshining her. In fact, at one point Joss walks way far to the right, and I almost saw a glimmer of concern on Etheridge's face...
posted by VulcanMike at 5:48 PM on February 16, 2005


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