Work intruded inexcusably on my weekend, so it’s a bit late to do a Grammys post, considering the show airs in 60 minutes. But I wanted to write before seeing the show. Last minute seems to be a theme: I’ve been loving what I’d heard from Amy Winehouse (particulary “You Know I’m No Good”) but only got around to getting the full album yesterday. But then, the show itself only got an 11th hour wga waiver, and Winehouse’s visa application was approved too late for her to make it to LA. So maybe my lateness is just in synch.

The Grammys have never been on my “must see” list, and like all TV, when it’s on, I’m always multi-tasking with some other project at the same time. The awards had an early history of being amazingly out of synch with what people are actually listening to (it took them almost a decade to really acknowledge that ‘rock and roll is here to stay’), and although, they have categories for practically every modern genre, the televised show skews too heavily now in the opposite direction - featuring so many people that are hardly underexposed. For me personally, until the last few years, the show had no musical relevance, since my musical life was almost exclusively live. I thought it ridiculous that the most prominent music award ignored live music - rather stupid of me, since it’s a recording industry award.

But the iPod kicked my listening to recorded music into higher gear a few years ago and I’m listening to a much broader range of music than ever before. Yes, the old order is choking and staggering, but recorded music is thriving, if you go by the breadth of what’s available to listeners and the tools available to musicians.

So why do I want to watch the Grammys? For the same reason that I turn on my radio or go to a concert of someone I’ve not heard: to be surprised. That may seem strange, given that it’s hardly a show that celebrates the obscure. But what’s mainstream for some people, is rare for the rest of us. There will be a lot on the Grammys that washes over unnoticed while I sort bills or whatever, and with the 50th anniversary, there will, I hope, be some familiar stuff that I’ll be glad to hear again. But what I’m listening for is the surprise: an old great that somehow slipped my notice, maybe, but even better: a current artist that I’ve not really heard. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s live or what, but I’m sometimes hit by the realization that someone I’ve been vaguely aware of really has the goods. Christina Aguilerra’s “Beautiful” in 2004, for example, did that. I had her shelved in a pop diva compartment of my brain until that performance caught my ear. I’m glad they found a way for Winehouse to perform, because she’s bound to reach some people that only know of her illness and not her voice.

Will something hit tonight? Maybe the Fergie/Legend duet, or maybe somebody just singing their presentation. Or maybe nothing this year, who knows. When I want to hear my favorite music, the music I know I love, I know where to find it, and it’s not the Grammys. But it’s three hours of live music, so I’m hoping somewhere in the pizzaz and business at hand there’s a chance for music lovers to do what they do: say “here’s something I think is really, really good - what do you think?”

categories: biz, music
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