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  • Mr. Smith Wins The Grammys

    Previously on NCIS Los Angeles, I mean the 2015 Grammy Awards.  Here’s a video package of last year’s show in case you forget what we do.

    LL Cool J opens this year’s show with shots from last year’s instead of the show’s history. Then AC/DC shows up forty years too late to open the show. As Gaga wraps herself around Tony Bennett in the audience, James says there are 22 more performances.

    Tonight!?

    8:09: Taylor Swift bitches about not winning Best New Artist, which she quickly announces goes to Sam Smith. Sam beats out Iggy Azalea, and somewhere, Tom Petty smiles. Sam is charming. It might be a very long Sam Smith night.

    Arianna Grande quickly follows with her own performance. 21 to go. Wow.

    8:20  Songwriting couple extraorinarre Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann win a Trustee Award. Tom Jones and Jessie J cover “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling”. Jessie screams, Tom growls, and they eventually stop to award Best Pop Solo Performance to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”.  Yes, last year, but this is “live” version.

    8:35: Country tart Miranda Lambert appears in front of a fan wearing black leather and boots. She’s a hard-looking 31. Angry hard-looking. Blake Shelton clapped, duh.

    Barry Gibb appears for the first time since he lost his brothers because The Bee Gees won a lifetime award. Barry and chaperons Petatonix then award Best Pop Vocal Album to Sam Smith, and we’re in danger of a Christopher Cross Grammy show. Sam Smith says his music was only heard when he stopped trying to lose weight and sing songs that weren’t him. His plunge into authenticity aside, Ed Sheeran looks stunned that he didn’t win.

    8:45: Kanye has 57 Grammy nominations? Wow. He performs understated in a purple outfit over a grate billowing smoke and half-lit on the stage with voice by AutoTune. It really was understated, but you had to be there. True to James’ promise, there’s less than a minute until Madge takes the stage. She’s AutoTuned too and knows how to create spectacle with a vintage Madonna performance featuring men dressed as demons and a ride out of the pit.

    8:55: Sam Smith isn’t nominated for Best Rock Album so Beck wins for “Morning Phase”, a nice change of pace.

    9:05: Niles Rogers and Smokey Robinson give George Harrison a Lifetime Achievement Award. Macca, who already has one, appears wistful. They also give Best R&B Award to Beyonce and Jay-Z.

    Zoom to the next performer, Ed Sheerhan, who has proven in two years that he isn’t a flash in the pan with three nominations tonight. He performs with a bespectacled John Mayer, Herbie Hancock on piano, and always on-the-beat Questlove.

    Ed immediately throws to ELO, who performs “Evil Woman” and joins the classic rockers for “Mr. Blue Sky”. The best moment may have been McCartney jumping up in the audience and singing along, pleased that a contemporary was singing another 1970s hit. Scoring at home? One song from the ’60s and two from the ’70s played so far, and those are just the songs.

    After a timeless performance by Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani, Hozier arrives to take everyone to church. This version is slower and Annie Lennox helps create vocal magic. The pair get my first, “I’d buy that” comment of the night. Then they segue into “I Put A Spell On You” and I immediately said, “Forget the other one. I’ll take this”.

    That’s when this year’s Grammys get even more random. Miranda Lambert grabs a country award while Pharrell, classical superstar Lang Lang and Hans Zimmer perform a dystopian “Happy” with dancing choirs, violinists decked out in yellow, and Pharrell decked out as a hotel bellman channeling Mickey Mouse.

    9:45: President Obama on video calls for an end to domestic violence and plugs ItsOnUs.org , follwed by domestic violence victim Brooke Axtell with a powerful slam poem that gives way to Katy Perry singing a haunting “By the Grace of God”.

    10:05: Stevie Wonder’s show is plugged and Usher sings an amazing version of “If It’s Magic” backed only by a harpist to retrieve Stevie from a darkened stage so that the master can hit his harmonica solo. Amazing.

    10:15: After performances by country throwbacks Eric Church and then Brandy Clark, Rihanna, Kanye and Macca perform the single that dropped two weeks ago. It’s really a Rihanna single, but those are two decent collaborators. Rihanna is harmonizing brilliantly with Kanye. Sir Paul acquits himself damn well for a guy 9 years older than the other two’s combined ages.

    10:30: Many long commercials, and Taylor Swift intros Sam Swift and Mary J. Blige. Sam had earned the right to sing his song alone, but somehow Mary J gets verse 2 and the chorus with the choir. They give way to Juanes, making his second straight Grammy performance. I’ve always liked him, but wonder if Latin fans think he’s their Keith Urban.

    10:40: Prince, presenting Album of the Year utters a classic line, “Albums, like black lives, matter”. Grammy isn’t Grammy without one political line. Then Beck’s “Morning Phase” shocks everyone, even Beck’s wife, with a win. As Beck reaches the stage, Kanye jumps up and reaches for the mic. The audience laughs, and Kanye’s redemption cycle is complete.

    10:55: Sia’s “Chandelier” with Sia dopplegangers is done, and Enrique Iglesias presents Song of the Year. Taylor Swift producer Max Martin is name checked as Producer of the Year. It’s Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me” again.

    On more performance by Beck with Coldplay’s Chris Martin takes us closer to the big awards.

    11:05: Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder come out to sing, err, present, uh, goof off and plug the show. Jamie Foxx becomes Ray for a minute until Stevie announces “Stay With Me” wins Song of the Year. Sam Smith gets off the line thanking the man who broke his heart giving him the impetus to write the song that won the night. At this point, the audience is restless and it feels like every cutaway shot of Jay-Z shows him channeling mob-connected era Sinatra.

    After the obligatory Memoriam and talk of an artist alliance to win back royalties, the stage is given to Beyonce to sing “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” and then John Legend and Common performing “Glory” to close out the show.

    Tally:  Sam Smith 4, Beck 2 but a big one, America, eh, maybe 1 1/2.  When the Grammys try too hard to fit everyone in, they simply become a version of putting your playlist on shuffle. The Grammy moment is plugged too hard, but there are several each year. When we look back, however, 2015 will be remembered as the year Sam Smith asked you to stay with him.

  • Today would have been Bob Marley’s 70th birthday…

    Today would have been Bob Marley’s 70th birthday…

    Bob Marley was born on February 6th in 1945. Today would have been his 70th birthday…

    And throughout 2015, in honor of his 70th birthday, Bob Marley’s fans are going to have the opportunity to listen to some heretofore unreleased and rare material. Starting February 17th, Tuff Gong International, in partnership with Caroline, will offer the first of the previously unavailable recordings as well as deluxe editions of Marley’s best known works. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to sneak an early listen to the first commemorative release, Bob Marley & The Wailers- Easy Skanking in Boston ’78.

    Bob Marley died May 11, 1981 in Miami, Florida after a bout with metastatic skin cancer that eventually spread to his lungs and brain. He was just 36 years old at the time of his death. Despite the brevity of his life, Bob Marley made an indelible and unquestionable mark on reggae music. His music is still much beloved by generations of people around the world and has influenced and inspired countless creative people. Indeed, Bob Marley, who’s sold more than 20 million records, is considered an “ambassador” of reggae music.

    I didn’t discover Bob Marley & The Wailers until 1990, when I was a college freshman. I had a roommate for one week who liked his music and played it constantly. That roommate and I ended up being totally incompatible, but I did take away a sincere appreciation for Bob Marley and the Wailers from the otherwise unpleasant but mercifully brief experience of living with her. After I moved out of our room, I went out and bought his eponymous greatest hits album, Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers. I’ve enjoyed Bob Marley’s music in the almost 25 years since! I guess I have that failed roommate experience to thank for that, though I feel pretty certain that I would have become a fan anyway. Bob Marley’s music is everywhere and it’s infectious!

    I will take the weekend to give Easy Skanking in Boston ’78 a thorough review from start to finish. In a later post, I’ll offer my thoughts about this exciting new release. Until then, please have a look at this video, which offers more information about this upcoming release in honor of Bob Marley’s 70th birthday.

  • Variety shows are a lost art…

    Variety shows are a lost art…

    Adding a little schlock to my rock today by examining the lost art of variety shows…

    Last week, I got on a serious Olivia Newton John kick. I bought a couple of her 70s era albums and learned a couple of her songs. I reminisced about the days when I adored Olivia in all her fluffy, sweet, squeaky clean glory. Or, at least she was that way until she sang songs like “Physical”, “Tied Up”, and “Soul Kiss”. Remembering an old song she sang about divorce called “Changes”, I took to YouTube to see if I could find it. The album it came from is very hard to find these days. I did end up finding Olivia’s old song. In fact, I found that she’d used it on a variety show she did back in the 70s. Check this out.


    Here’s a video from 1976. Looks like Olivia tried to turn the song into a scripted scene from a variety show. This kind of makes me cringe and laugh at the same time.


    Here’s another 1976 era video featuring Lee Majors… and Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman!

    It’s been a very long time since I last saw an artist like Olivia Newton John host a variety show. Lynda Carter, herself a singer sometimes, also had a variety show back in the day. It’s pretty damn cringeworthy.


    I actually remember when this originally aired in the early 80s.

    The song Lynda is singing is called “You’re Moving Out Today”. It was written by Carole Bayer Sager, Bette Midler, and Bruce Roberts. It was a hit for Sager in 1977 and notable since though Sager has written a lot of songs, this one was the only one that she sang herself.


    Here, she sings “Could It Be Magic” after telling her audience an entertaining anecdote about Mozart.

    This is a song that was made famous by both Barry Manilow and Donna Summer, both of whom I’d rather hear sing it than Lynda Carter. But judging by the comments on YouTube, people were not tuning in to hear the lovely Lynda Carter sing “Could It Be Magic”. I think most of them were hormonally provoked.

    While Lynda and Olivia had the odd musical special on primetime TV, there were other variety shows that were weekly affairs. Of course, I’m thinking about Donny and Marie Osmond, who had a very big hit with their show, Donny & Marie.


    Here’s a clip of Donny and Marie Osmond introducing Roy Clark, who was on his own cornball variety show Hee Haw.

    Roy Clark is kind of near and dear to my heart, since he was born in Meherrin, Virginia, a little town very close to where I went to college. The local hospital even had a plaque in the emergency room dedicated in his honor.


    A little wholesome banjo picking on Hee Haw… I used to watch this show all the time when I was growing up. I’d watch it today, too.

    And even imaginary television families got in on the variety show action. The stars of the 70s sitcom The Brady Bunch were guests on Donny & Marie. The episode was so popular that the powers that were at ABC decided to give them their own show. It was called The Brady Bunch Hour and it was truly a weird creation.


    This show was based on a truly ridiculous premise. Apparently, Mike Brady gave up being an architect to get into show biz.

    The Brady Bunch Hour didn’t last very long, but several big name stars were embarrassed on it, including Tina Turner, who at the time had just divorced ex husband Ike Turner.


    I give her credit for being so game to entertain!

    Sonny and Cher also had a great variety show back in the day. I actually love seeing old episodes of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. They were very entertaining.


    A less country version of “Jackson” as interpreted by Sonny Bono and Cher.

    And here Cher does a Stevie Wonder number with The Osmonds… This clip never fails to crack me up. I love how the electric keyboard comes down from nowhere and Donny pretends to play it.


    Check out the dance moves on this lot… They’re pretty great, except at the end, when they finish off in a weird pose.

    I love watching this shit. At the same time, I can’t imagine how this medium could be recreated for 2015. I doubt it would be very successful. These shows are so schlocky and corny. Oh well, I guess I could always go to Branson, Missouri for an evening of wholesome variety show fun.