As usual, the Grammy's Best New Artist sucks gas

[SoxFan]

The Zac Brown Band? Yes, that lame Jimmy Buffet wannabe song forever changed popular music.

They're in elite company:

A Taste of Honey (beat Elvis Costello; Siouxie & the Banshees not nominated)
Milli Vanilli
Christopher Cross (beat The Pretenders; U2 wasn't nominated)
Starland Vocal Band (Ramones not nominated)
Jody Watley
Mariah "the reason for the mute button" Carey
Hootie and the Fucking Blowfish
Maroon 5

In 1987, Steve Earle, one of the greatest American songwriters of all time, was not nominated, since he couldn't hope to meet the high standards set by Timbuk3, Nu Shooz, and Glass Tiger.

[MadBadger]

1. Hootie Fucking...RULES!

[Forkboy]

2. Well duh!

[nickinSTL]

3. I'd never heard of any of the nominees for best new artist

and I really disliked the winners' performance.

Patriotic songs are fine in appropriate settings, but at the Grammys? Don't think so.

I muted them.

(on the previous winners...I might not much like Mariah Carey's music, but she has some talent, and Maroon5, while I find Adam whatsisname's voice whiny and annoying, they have had some success and a couple songs that didn't suck despite the whining)

Most of the winners, though, I gotta agree...wow, the Grammys suck at picking winners there.

[SoxFan]

4. That inane "ass in the sand, cold beer in my hand" thing

It's on country radio 24/7, even though it's about as country as "Margaritaville".

[Kali]

5. modern country

pretty much EXACTLY like sand in your ass. what?

[S_E_Fudd]

6. Don't badmouth Starland Vocal Band...

Every hormone fueled teenagers favorite song in 1976 was Afternoon Delight...

And I can't say Hootie sucked...


Also I think Men at Work won Best new artist...they faded away but that album was great!!!

From what I saw tonight Zac Brown has serious skills...gotta admit I didn't like the song (I'm not a huge country music fan), but reading his bio it looks like he might be on our side of the fence politically...not sure of that though

[jobycom]

7. They're usually pretty good.

Mariah Carey's first five singles went number one. She's had more number ones than any solo act, and only the Beatles have had more. She was one of the top selling artists of the 90s, and she's in the top ten in a lot of record sales categories. So you may not like her, but claiming they missed on that one is silly.

Hootie and the Fucking Blowfish had a good run, and their lead singer is still successful, having just won a Entertainer of the Year in the CMA awards. That was hardly a bad pick.

Some other picks you didn't mention: Adele, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Shelby Lynn, Christina Aguilera (I mostly love that one because Britney was supposed to win that year), Lauryn Hill, Sheryl Crow, Marc Cohen, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Hornsby, Sade, Cyndi Lauper, Rickey Lee Jones, Carly Simon, Crosby Stills and Nash, Bobby Gentry...

and Oh yeah, the Beatles.

They've done pretty well, with the choice sometimes favoring talent, sometimes commercial appeal, and now and then both. They've missed on a few, but it's easier to see that looking back.

As for the Zac Brown Band, that's an odd pick, but they will be successful in country music, at least. The lead singer's voice is a mix of Randy Owens and Jimmy Buffet, he can actually sing (in a country style, which not everyone can appreciate), he plays a decent guitar, and his throwback sound is popular now. I'm just surprised they gave it to a predominately country band.

You might be complaining about them in 20 years, in other words.

[blue_onyx]

9. I was so pissed...

the year Christina Aguilera won. Britney should have won. Oh, well....the people who don't win typically have the most successful, longest careers.

[SoxFan]

17. Zac Brown is about as country as Christina Aguillera

Someone who records music that evokes real, old-time country (eg, Danni Leigh, Mike Ness) gets zero airplay. Instead, it's a bunch of guys who sound like Parrotheads and women who think that Sheena Easton with a lap steel is tantamount to Patsy Cline.

And the list of winners doesn't impress me. It's far too heavy on dull, repetitive singer-songwriter types. Metal, punk, postpunk, techno, real rap and real country get passed over every single year, but there's always another Joni Mitchell wannabe.

[Yavin4]

8. BTW, Steve Earle Was On An Eliptical Machine Right Next To Me In My Gym

That tinge that you're feeling is called envy. Let it flow through you.

[donheld]

10. 1987 Bruce Hornsby won - He's a great artist, other greats

Norah Jones
Alicia Keys
Sheryl Crow
Tracy Chapman
Bette Midler
Carly Simon
Carpenters
CSN

[Quantess]

11. I like the Ting Tings and MGMT

I had never heard of the Zac Brown Band before.

[Lyric]

12. I really like them.

Heard them for the first time yesterday while catching a few minutes of the GAC countdown and I thought they were great. It was nice to see a male country singer who wasn't (1) perfectly, conventionally "handsome", and (2) wearing a cowboy hat.

:hi:

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. I never heard of the Zac Brown Band before tonight.

But it was nice to see someone who actually plays fucking musical instruments win an award. Aside from Green Day winning the best rock album, it was mostly all corporate manipulated industry Disney/American Idol bullshit.

[old mark]

14. I never heard of them till just now. Are they my new favorite band?

Do people still play guitars? Certainly seem to sell a lot of them....


mark

[lildreamer316]

15. Did you bother to watch their performance?

They can :
1)SING their ever-loving asses off, really. And do it live, unlike a lot of other artists.
2)PLAY their instruments very, very well.

[fan of the arts]

16. LOL! I know 2nd-graders who are better

at guitar, vocals, composition and looking like humans who have contact with other humans.