*** Post-1979 Album Draft - Commentary Thread ***

[Controller Jacobs]

2011 Best New Artist Nominees:
Drake
Florence + The Machine
Esperanza Spalding
Justin Bieber
Mumford and Sons

Winner: Esperanza Spalding

You could argue that maybe Florence + The Machine or Mumford and Sons should have won, but they got correct by simply not giving it to Bieber.

Are we certain "Esperanza Spalding" isn't Bieber's Ron Mexico?

[DMT]

The Grammy's are a travesty. Have they ever got any award in any category remotely correct?

They have actually. Arcade Fire won best album in 2011, Adele in 2012, Outkast in 2004, etc. I was surprisingly impressed when I checked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year

[DMT]

I still have a bunch of stuff to listen to from the last 2 rounds.

I'm about 6 rounds behind.

[senorsheep]

10.16......"Mama Said," Lenny Kravitz

Nice one! Definitely my favorite of his.

[Erik]

So was another album I couldn't escape as a denizen of a suburban Philly high school in the late 80s. Speaking of things that were inescapably popular in the 80s, when's someone gonna take THAT album?

[johnnya24]

They have actually. Arcade Fire won best album in 2011, Adele in 2012, Outkast in 2004, etc. I was surprisingly impressed when I checked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_...um_of_the_Year

Making a point rather than a literal statement of fact

Though good example of how behind the times they are:

Stankonia > Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Funeral > The Suburbs

Not saying it isn't great The Suburbs won, but Funeral probably never even got into the discussion let alone a nomination, and that's a Top 5 record of the entire decade, some would say the best.

Occasionally they snag a good record, but usually the selections are dreadful. It seems like a bunch of clueless old men making these decisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year

[johnnya24]

Lenny Kravitz was one of the best live gigs I ever went to. Didn't expect much, knew enough of the songs to make it fun, and he was awesome.

[revo]

Lenny Kravitz was one of the best live gigs I ever went to. Didn't expect much, knew enough of the songs to make it fun, and he was awesome.

Yep, same with me. I took my wife, who when he took the stage said "He's black??"

[johnnya24]

So was another album I couldn't escape as a denizen of a suburban Philly high school in the late 80s. Speaking of things that were inescapably popular in the 80s, when's someone gonna take THAT album?

The Grease 2 Soundtrack does not have enough original content.

[Erik]

Actually Lenny is mixed. Mother is Roxie Roker from The Jeffersons, father is Saul Kravitz, who was an agent or something like that.

Finally heard from Overkill, who I had PMed when we were trying to organize the Lou Reed draft. He says he's really busy right now but would like to be informed whenever we set up another one.

[johnnya24]

Actually Lenny is mixed. Mother is Roxie Roker from The Jeffersons, father is Saul Kravitz, who was an agent or something like that.

Finally heard from Overkill, who I had PMed when we were trying to organize the Lou Reed draft. He says he's really busy right now but would like to be informed whenever we set up another one.

I PM'd him before the the draft ... he only checked in this morning. I desperately wanted to get a few more arghs from ElDiablo after his "no-one will take any of my picks" pronouncement

[heyelander]

Hmm... I think I merged two JCM albums into one in my head. I think I like 2 songs off the other one more than anything on Scarecrow, but Scarecrow is a better album overall... not that I think either was on anyone else's list.

[ManCalledFoot]

I forgot to put up the Billy Squier article from last Sunday:

http://nypost.com/2013/11/16/the-hip-hop-rebirth-of-billy-squier/

He became the only rock star in history to have his entire career killed by a single video.

In their 2012 oral history, “I Want My MTV,” authors Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks gave an entire chapter to it.

“When I saw the video, my jaw dropped,” Squier told them. “It was diabolical. I looked at it and went, ‘What the f- -k is this?’ ”

Directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega and shot two weeks before its premiere, the video opens with a shirtless Squier lolling on a bed of satin sheets, bouncing around a pseudo-industrial loft, pawing his way along the floor and ripping off his shirt, all filtered through a soft pink neon haze. The video is so unironic it seems as though it must be ironic.

“My girlfriend said something like, ‘This is gonna ruin you,’ ” Squier recalled. “I was a mess . . . It’s like ‘Rock Me Tonite’ is an MBA course on how a video can go really wrong.”

Within days, he said, “I was playing to half-houses. I went from 15,000 and 20,000 people a night to 10,000 people. Everything I’d worked for my whole life was crumbling, and I couldn’t stop it. How can a four-minute video do that?”

[Mithrandir]

Van Halen - love the pick. I saw them on this tour. Not the greatest show due to a goofy drum solo, a goofier bass solo, and not enough songs.

Billy Idol - not a huge fan. Ok music though.

Peter Gabriel - see Billy Idol

Johnny Cougar - Love that album..especially "Rumbleseat" and "Rain on the Scarecrow"

[Mithrandir]

I forgot to put up the Billy Squier article from last Sunday:

http://nypost.com/2013/11/16/the-hip-hop-rebirth-of-billy-squier/

He became the only rock star in history to have his entire career killed by a single video.

In their 2012 oral history, “I Want My MTV,” authors Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks gave an entire chapter to it.

“When I saw the video, my jaw dropped,” Squier told them. “It was diabolical. I looked at it and went, ‘What the f- -k is this?’ ”

Directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega and shot two weeks before its premiere, the video opens with a shirtless Squier lolling on a bed of satin sheets, bouncing around a pseudo-industrial loft, pawing his way along the floor and ripping off his shirt, all filtered through a soft pink neon haze. The video is so unironic it seems as though it must be ironic.

“My girlfriend said something like, ‘This is gonna ruin you,’ ” Squier recalled. “I was a mess . . . It’s like ‘Rock Me Tonite’ is an MBA course on how a video can go really wrong.”

Within days, he said, “I was playing to half-houses. I went from 15,000 and 20,000 people a night to 10,000 people. Everything I’d worked for my whole life was crumbling, and I couldn’t stop it. How can a four-minute video do that?”

The book "I want my MTV" is a fun read. Especially for those of us who were there from the beginning of MTV.