At the 1991 American Music Awards, the nominees for best hard rock band were Alice In Chains, Nirvana, and Firehouse. And the winner was… Firehouse. This would be us hair metal fans’ last triumph until sixteen years later when we realized that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Because bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains were soon building steam by bringing a new flavor to hard rock, while the beloved glam-metal bands were slowly but surely becoming extinct. Dial MTV which featured all these terrific bands went bye-bye so more exposure could be given to the up and coming grunge scene in th early 90’s. No more fist in the air, bang your head, make love to the nearest stripper music on the radio or the Billboard charts. We were supposed to think more when we listened to hard rock, wear flannel shirts to make us appear that we just didn’t give a shit and it should be about the music and not the appearance, and sing along to songs about how life sucked and how we needed to stand up to our government. I didn’t care about kids named Jeremy who wanted to kill their classmates because they didn’t fit in, I cared about Suzy and her all day sucker! I cared about nothing but a good time! I didn’t want to think when I listened to hard rock, I wanted to bang my head because metal health drove me mad!
Category: People
all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music
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Eric Benet’s “Love & Life”: Good Enough That You’ll Forgive Him For That Whole Halle Berry Mess
Let’s face it. No matter how big Eric Benet becomes, he will forever be known as The Guy Who Cheated On Halle Berry. Although I almost don’t feel sorry for him on account of his being a complete idiot, I’ve gotta say, the guy makes pretty good records-although he only appears to release them when the moon is green. Following a 3-year absence, Benet has returned with a solid fourth album entitled Love & Life.
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Out There!- “Swept Away” by Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross was on top of the musical spectrum in 1980 upon the release of his self-titled debut album which produced four Top 20 Singles (Ride Like The Wind, Sailing, Never Be The Same, and Say You’ll Be Mine). For my fellow trivia buffs out there, did you know there is only one person to ever in the sixty something year history of the Grammys to win the Grand Slam for Best New Artist, Song Of The Year, Album of the Year and Record Of The Year? Yep, it’s our boy Christopher Cross who won album of the year for his self-titled debut as well as Song and Record of The Year for his hit single “Sailing”. And it didn’t stop there as one year later in 1981, he also would claim an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his performance of Arthur’s Theme (It’s The Best That You Can Do) from the classic Dudley Moore move. “When you get caught between the moon and New York City!” Now you know what I’m talking about. Did you also know his name wasn’t really Christopher Cross? I was shocked upon researching for this column that his real name was Chris Geppert. Makes sense that he changed it. Anyway….
