Written by Jon Williams
The Grammy Awards were handed out last weekend, in a
ceremony held Sunday night at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The 60 th annual event honored the best music of the past year (or,
technically, from October of 2016 through September of 2017). Bruno Mars had an
incredible night, winning all six categories in which he was nominated,
including the coveted Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the
Year awards.
If you watched the ceremony, it may seem like the Grammys
only recognize a handful of categories, but that’s not the case at all. In
fact, the vast majority of awards were given out at a Premiere Ceremony held
earlier in the day. Only nine categories were held over for the main ceremony
so the evening’s primary focus could be on the performances—which we will do
here, as well. However, if you missed any of the winners, check out our website
for a complete
collection of all the year’s honorees, incredible music your patrons will
definitely want to hear.
The night started off with a bang with multiple nominee Kendrick
Lamar (seven nominations, five wins) taking the stage to perform a raucous
mashup of songs, joined by Bono and the Edge of U2,
as well as comedian Dave
Chappelle (winner for Best Comedy Album). That was immediately followed by
an intimate performance by Lady
Gaga (two nominations) of two songs from her Joanne
album, accompanied on acoustic guitar by Mark
Ronson.
The Grammy Awards ceremony is known for performances
featuring interesting collaborations, and that was certainly in evidence this
year. The first after Kendrick’s opener was Gary
Clark Jr. teaming up with Jon
Batiste for a rockin’ remembrance of music pioneers Fats
Domino and Chuck
Berry, who both passed away in 2017. Later in the show, a more somber
tribute took place, with Maren
Morris (one nomination) and Eric
Church taking the stage alongside Brothers
Osborne (one nomination) to play Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” for the
victims of the Las Vegas shooting that happened in October. That was followed
by one of the night’s most emotional moments, when Kesha
(two nominations) came onstage for a powerhouse rendition of her song “Praying”
backed by a chorus that included Cyndi
Lauper, Andra
Day (one nomination), Camila
Cabello, Julia
Michaels (two nominations), and Bebe
Rexha. After Elton
John sang “Tiny Dancer” with Miley
Cyrus, the tribute to the late Tom
Petty was handled by Chris
Stapleton (three wins) and Emmylou
Harris, who performed “Wildflowers.”
Even with all those team-ups, there was plenty of room for
solo artists and regular bands and collaborations. The solo artists that
performed included Sam
Smith, Childish
Gambino (five nominations, one win), Pink
(one nomination), Ben
Platt, Patti
LuPone, and SZA
(five nominations), while the bands were Little
Big Town (two nominations, one win) and U2.
As far as collaborations, Luis
Fonsi and Daddy
Yankee performed their hit “Despacito,” which scored three nominations. The
aforementioned Bruno
Mars took the stage with Cardi B for “Finesse” off his 24K
Magic album, calling to mind old-school R&B from the 1990s. Sting
and Shaggy
performed their new song “Don’t Make Me Wait” in advance of their forthcoming
joint album, and then Rihanna
and Bryson
Tiller joined DJ
Khaled for their song “Wild Thoughts.” Finally, the last performance of the
night featured Logic
(two nominations), Alessia
Cara (Best New Artist), and Khalid
(five nominations) on “1-800-273-8255,” promoting the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline.
These incredible musicians put on a memorable show that was
truly worthy of the Grammy Awards. Which performance was your favorite? As you
consider, use the links above or visit our website to put together a wide
selection of music from these iconic and up-and-coming artists for your
music-loving patrons to discover and enjoy.
Written by Jon Williams
In case you
missed it somehow, the Grammy Award nominations were announced last week in an
all-day event that culminated in a concert special that came with the Album of
the Year nominees. The artists and albums up for that coveted award are Beck’s Morning
Phase, Beyonce’s self-titled
surprise, Pharrell’s GIRL,
Ed Sheeran’s X,
and Sam Smith’s In
the Lonely Hour. You can find these CDs, along with all the others up
for awards in all categories, in our collection
of 2015 Grammy nominees.
When you
hear about the Grammys, your mind automatically turns to music—which is only
natural, as the awards honor the best and brightest in the music industry, and
at the ceremony the awards themselves take a backseat to some of the most
notable performances of the year. With that in mind, it’s easy to lose sight of
the fact that not all Grammy Awards are given out for music. One such award is
that for comedy album, which has a stellar lineup this year. Here are the
nominees for this year:
Louis C.K. –
Oh
My God: Even if you don’t know Louis C.K. by sight, chances are excellent
that you know his work. In addition to his standup, he has a long and
successful comedy writing career, including for Letterman and Saturday Night Live. He has been
nominated for several Emmy Awards, winning in 1999 for The
Chris Rock Show, and again just last year for his own show, the
acclaimed FX series Louie.
Jim Gaffigan
– Obsessed:
If there’s one overarching theme in Jim Gaffigan’s comedy, it’s that he likes
to talk about food. A lot. He has authored two books of humor: Dad
Is Fat and Food:
A Love Story; the titles should give you some idea. As such, his humor
is generally pretty clean and family-appropriate. Although he doesn’t maintain
a steady presence in Hollywood, it’s certainly not out of the ordinary to see
him on film or TV, with roles in Super
Troopers and That
‘70s Show, to name just a couple.
Patton
Oswalt – Tragedy
Plus Comedy Equals Time: Patton Oswalt, on the other hand, is all over
the place. Performing as a comedian for over twenty years, he has also gotten
regular Hollywood work. He does a fair amount of voice work, most notably
starring as Remy the Rat in Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille.
Most recently he’s had a recurring role on Marvel’s
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s also frequently found on Twitter, where he’s
been known to experiment with the form as a method of delivering comedy.
Sarah
Silverman – We
Are Miracles: Like Louis C.K., one of Sarah Silverman’s first jobs was
writing for SNL, although she had
little success and was fired after one season. Obviously, that hasn’t deterred
her, as she has gone on to become one of the biggest names in comedy. She, like
Patton Oswalt, has done some voiceover work, such as in Wreck-It
Ralph, and plenty of other acting work besides. She has appeared on Louie, and most recently was in the Seth
MacFarlane comedy A
Million Ways to Die in the West.
Weird Al
Yankovic – Mandatory
Fun: Okay, so this one actually is
musical in nature, as well as being hilarious. Al took the Internet by storm
earlier this year with the release of this, his fourteenth album, releasing a
video per day for a week, including parodies of Pharrell’s “Happy” and Robin
Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” We wrote
about him and his career at the time, but one thing we failed to mention
(specifically) is that he won a previous Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2003
for Poodle Hat.
All of the
nominees have plenty of hilarious material available; SmartBrowse each of their
names on our website for their films, audiobooks, and standup specials on DVD
and CD. Who do you think is the funniest of the bunch?
Written by Jon Williams
The Grammy Awards ceremony took place this past Sunday night. Mumford & Sons (Album of
the Year for Babel), Gotye (Record of
the Year for “Somebody That I Used to Know”), and fun. (Best New Artist) took
home some of the most coveted awards, while the Black Keys and Jay-Z and Kanye
West earned three awards apiece. (For a complete list of winners, click
here.)
If you
watched the broadcast, though, you saw only a handful of those awards
presented. Most of the awards are presented beforehand, so the televised
ceremony can focus on actual musical performances. Taylor Swift kicked the
evening off with an Alice in Wonderland-themed rendition of “We’re Never Ever
Getting Back Together,” while Justin Timberlake announced a return to the music
world with a two-song performance later in the show.
Over the
years, the Grammy Awards ceremony has become known for the unique artist
combinations that have taken the stage together. This year’s ceremony boasted a
number of collaborations, such as Miguel and Wiz Khalifa, Elton John and Ed Sheeran,
Alicia Keys and Maroon 5, and the Black Keys with Dr. John and the Preservation
Hall Jazz Band. Bruno Mars and Sting were joined onstage by Rihanna and Ziggy
Marley for a tribute to the late Bob Marley; later, a similar tribute to Levon
Helm was done by Elton John, Mavis Staples, Mumford & Sons, the Zac Brown
Band, Alabama Shakes, and T Bone Burnett. (For a complete list of performers, click
here.)
You don’t
often see multi-genre collaborations of this sort outside of the Grammy
ceremony; when you do, the results can be transcendant. Here are a few:
Sound
City: Real to Reel Soundtrack:
The soundtrack to Dave Grohl’s documentary features the Foo Fighters frontman
collaborating with a number of artists, such as Stevie Nicks and Trent Reznor.
Perhaps the most notable track, though, is “Cut Me Some Slack,” which drew buzz
leading up to the 12-12-12 concert for Hurricane Sandy relief as a Nirvana
reunion of sorts, with Sir Paul McCartney on lead vocals.
Tony
Bennett – Duets: An American Classic:
This 2006 album from the jazzy pop singer, released on his 80 th
birthday, sees him perform duets with a number of today’s stars from various
genres. Some, such as Billy Joel and Elton John, don’t seem like much of a
stretch. Other songs, however, include the likes of country star Tim McGraw,
rock singer Bono (from U2), and Latin rocker Juanes.
Robert
Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand:
One of classic rock’s most iconic voices, Robert Plant, best known as lead
singer for Led Zeppelin, teams up with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss for this
understated duet album of cover tunes. Produced by T Bone Burnett, a follow-up
collaboration has been in the works since 2009.
Lou
Reed and Metallica – Lulu:
Singer-songwriter Reed performed with Metallica in 2009 at the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame 25 th Anniversary Concert, which led to this album.
Metallica was no stranger to unconventional collaborations, having paired their
heavy metal catalog with the San Francisco Symphony for S&M
in 1999.
Run-D.M.C.
and Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”: Okay, so it’s only one song…but what a
song. In 1986, rappers Run-D.M.C. covered rock legend Aerosmith’s hit single
from 1977, with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry helping out. The song helped propel
rap into mainstream consciousness: the video received heavy airplay on MTV, and
it became the first rap song to crack Billboard’s Top 5.
What are
some of your favorite collaborative albums and songs? Let us know in the
comments section below.
Danielle Desmond, our lead music selector and CD standing order expert, recaps this past weekend's Grammy Awards.
In the wake of R&B singer Whitney Houston’s sudden death, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, had the biggest audience viewing since 1984.
Rapper and Grammy host LL Cool J opened the show addressing audience members with the painful words, “We have a death in our family.” He then led the audiences and viewers in prayer to honor the late Whitney Houston.
As they say, though, “the show must go on,” and the Grammys certainly did, honoring this year’s amazing artists, including the many greats we’ve lost this year. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt performed Etta James’s “Sunday Kind of Love.” Tony Bennett accepted the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for his duet, “Body and Soul,” with the late Amy Winehouse. And Jennifer Hudson left us with chills after she sang Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” Although no one can quite match Houston’s extraordinary and incomparable voice, Hudson did the legendary diva proud.
Another noteworthy performance? The unlikely collaboration of the Beach Boys, Maroon 5, and newcomer hipster band Foster the People. The Beach Boys will start their 50th Anniversary Tour this spring.
Missing from the awards ceremony was Kanye West as well as Jay Z and Beyonce (who were probably at home taking care of their brand new baby daughter, Blu Ivy). Still, many artists attended to proudly accept their awards.
The biggest winner of the night was Adele for her album 21, which went six for six on awards: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Pop Vocal Album, Best Solo Pop Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video.
In addition to sweeping the Grammys, Adele also blew audiences away with a stunning performance of her hit song “Rolling in the Deep.” The wow factor was amplified by the fact that this was Adele’s first performance since her throat surgery back in November. She remembered to thank her doctors in her acceptance speech for Album of the Year.
The Foo Fighters won for Best Rock Album, Rock Song, and Rock Performance. David Grohl told everyone that this was his most meaningful album because it was recorded in his garage. Chris Brown performed early in the night and then took home the award for Best R&B Album. Kanye West, who wasn’t present, won for Best Rap Album.
America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift performed her hit “Mean,” which also won the Grammy for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
The show wrapped with an unforgettable finale from Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and David Grohl, singing a medley from the Abbey Road album. What a gorgeous and refreshing compilation of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.”
What did you think of the Grammys? Were there any shocks or snubs in your book? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below, and be sure to shop the full list of winners here.
Our new Music and CD Standing Order expert Danielle Desmond marks her debut into New & Views blog posts with a recap of the 2012 Grammy nominees.
‘Tis the season for Grammy Nominations! The 54th Annual Grammy Nominees were announced Wednesday, November 30, on CBS. Grammy Winner and Hip Hop legend LL Cool J hosted the concert event, which included performances by Lady Gaga and Jason Aldean, who did a revamped version of “Dirt Road Anthem” with guest star, Ludacris.
Kanye West led the nominees with lucky number 7; behind him with a tie for 6 noms were Adele, Bruno Mars, and the Foo Fighters.
Critics everywhere were buzzing that Kanye was snubbed for the biggest nomination of them all, Album of The Year, for his highly praised My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Thus, the big question on everyone’s mind: Will Kanye rush the stage on February 12 when Album of The Year is announced and declare that he had one of the best albums of all time?
Check out a few of the nominees below. The bold nominees are our Staff Picks for the winners. For a full list of Grammy nominees, visit www.grammy.com.
Album of the Year
Adele, 21
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Lady Gaga, Born This Way
Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Rihanna, Loud
Record of the Year (Artist Award)
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”
Bon Iver, “Holocene”
Bruno Mars, “Grenade”
Mumford & Sons, “The Cave”
Katy Perry, “Firework”
Song of the Year (Songwriter Award)
Kanye West, “All of the Lights”
Mumford & Sons, “The Cave”
Bruno Mars, “Grenade”
Bon Iver, “Holocene”
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”
Pop Vocal Album
Adele, 21
Cee Lo Green, The Lady Killer
Lady Gaga, Born This Way
Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Rihanna, Loud
Best Pop Solo Performance
Adele, “Someone Like You”
Lady Gaga, “You and I”
Bruno Mars, “Grenade”
Katy Perry, “Firework”
Pink, “F***in’ Perfect”
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Even if she doesn’t win all six of her nominations (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video), Adele Blue Adkins deserves every nomination.
Midwest Tape Staff Pick: Overall Favorite |
New Artist
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
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Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday
Midwest Tape Staff Pick: Best New Artist |
Rock Album
Jeff Beck, Rock n Roll Party Honoring Les Paul
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Kings of Leon, Come Around Sundown
Red Hot Chili Peppers, I’m With You
Wilco, The Whole Love
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Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm With You
Midwest Tape Staff Pick: Best Rock Album |
R&B Album
Chris Brown, F.A.M.E.
El DeBarge, Second Chance
R. Kelly, Love Letter
Ledisi, Pieces of Me
Kelly Price, Kelly
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Chris Brown, F.A.M.E
Midwest Tape Staff Pick: Best New Artist |
Rap Album
Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
Lupe Fiasco, Lasers
Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Country Album
Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party
Eric Church, Chief
Lady Antebellum, Own the Night
Blake Shelton, Red River Blue
George Strait, Here for a Good Time
Taylor Swift, Speak Now
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Lady Antebellum, Own the Night
Midwest Tape Staff Pick: Best Country Album |
Pop music sensation Katy Perry recently joined a very elite club. When her single “E.T.” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it became the fourth track from her current album, Teenage Dream, to do so. Only eight other albums have yielded four #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart; Perry’s is the first since Usher’s Confessions in 2004, and the first by a female since Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut in 1990. 1
Looking at the full list of artists and albums to attain this feat, you’ll see that Perry has joined some legendary artists who have made a great impact throughout their years in the music industry. Teenage Dream is only Perry’s second album; thus, this honor seems to bode well for the 26-year-old artist and her young career.
Although she didn’t take home any awards, Perry was nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, including Album of the Year for Teenage Dream. 2 At the time, there was a certain amount of uproar over the nomination. In retrospect, after yielding so many #1 hits, perhaps the nomination was justified after all. Then again, we all know that popularity doesn’t always mean something is “good.”
Certainly Ms. Perry is no stranger to controversy, even aside from the consternation over her Grammy nomination. So what do you think? Leave us your comments on Katy Perry, her music, her accomplishments, and her controversies.
1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12931648
2 http://www.grammy.com/nominees
What do you do when no one cares about your award nominee announcement? Adding a little Bruno Mars is a good start. For years, the announcement of nominees for the Grammy Awards, music’s highest honor, consisted of a few randomly selected artists, a podium, and a slew of reporters—all of which assembling at an ungodly early hour in Los Angeles. The artists would then read names from a card as photographers clicked away and giddy entertainment writers feverishly scribbled on their notepads. The problem was that no one really cared. After all, the nominees would be up on the internet minutes after they were announced. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the driving force behind the Grammy Awards, recognized this as an opportunity. Last year, they decided to add a little pizazz to the proceedings by turning the event into an event—an hour long television special that intersperses live performances from top artists between nominee announcements for each of the major award categories. Think of it as a sort of dress rehearsal for the actual award ceremony in February. With hip-hop legend—and multiple Grammy winner himself—LL Cool J retaining his spot as host, the second annual edition of the special aired last night. Performers ranged from pop starlet Katy Perry to country sensation Miranda Lambert to rockers Train, but two standout performances of the unplugged variety—the aforementioned Mars’ stripped down rendition of his smash hit “Just The Way You Are” and Best New Artist nominee Justin Bieber’s heavy-on-the-guitar acoustic version of “Favorite Girl” (straight from the recently released My Worlds Acoustic)—were a step above the rest. Mars would go on to pull double-duty, later performing the Record of the Year-nominated “Nothin’ On You” with rapper B.o.B, who himself returned to close out the show with “Don’t Let Me Fall.” Viewers may have witnessed the future of the Grammys as Mars and B.o.B., both in the infant stages of their careers, received a combined 12 nominations—and their performances certainly justified such accolades. In between performances, nominees from five different categories were announced. Aside from a curveball or two, the nominations stuck fairly close to what the experts had predicted. As expected, Eminem’s name was called more than once. The Detroit rapper picked up an Album of the Year nom for his comeback album Recovery and was also nominated for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year (in case you’re wondering, the Song of the Year award goes to the writer of the song, while the Record of the Year goes to the performer) for “Love The Way You Lie,” his revered collaboration with Rihanna. Em ended up with ten nominations in total by night’s end. Other prominent nominees included a pair of “Ladies”— Antebellum and Gaga—each nominated for six awards, including Album of the Year. Jay-Z also picked up six nominations, including his song “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys, which received a Record of the Year nom. Surprises on the night included Ray Lamontagne’s “Beg Steal or Borrow” picking up a Song of the Year nomination, the Best New Artist category (which is generally reserved for pop acts) recognizing jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream being nominated for Album of the Year despite being left out of most experts’ predictions. A full rundown of the nominees can be found on our website by clicking the Grammy Nominees panel on our homepage, or by selecting the “Grammy Nominees 2011” collection in the Browse section.  Let the discussions begin—who should win? Who got snubbed? Who put on the best performance last night? Leave your comments below!
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