I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of KISS in the history of the world, but I certainly respect their place in rock history. I also give props to Gene Simmons for building such an empire out of…well, mediocrity. Come on, let’s be serious. Not great songwriters, not great musicians. Excellent live performers. Excellent marketers with tons of kid appeal. There’s a reason that just about every rock musician sites them as an early influence, and a reason that […]
Posts tagged "Award Show Sundays"
Award Show Sundays: New Jill Swing Edition
Even back in 1993, it might not have been the greatest idea to have CeCe Peniston and Mary J. Blige sharing a six-minute stretch on the Soul Train Music Awards. But it happened, and we have proof! When this segment aired, CeCe had just been anointed as the new dance diva. Her hit “Finally” was all over the radio at the end of ’91 and beginning of ’92, and her debut album’s third single, “Keep on Walkin’” helped the diva-in-training […]
Award Show Sundays: A Triple Shot of Babyface
Part of agenda for this 4th of July weekend has been co-authoring a comprehensive guide to the music of Babyface for my folks at Popdose. With that written and shipped off to Grand Poobah Jeff Giles (and ‘Face sporting a songwriting credit on “Best Thing I Never Had”, one of the best things on Beyonce’s new album , I still have ‘Face on the brain (OK, that sounded weird reading it back. But I’m gonna leave it in). This week’s Award Show Sunday, […]
Award Show Sundays: Hov, Linkin Park & Macca Give You an Encore (Do You Want More?)
Yesterday marked the 69th birthday of one of the greatest songwriters in history-Paul McCartney. For almost fifty years, the cute Beatle has maintained and polished his legacy with very few hiccups. Think about it, Paul’s least-liked period (critically) came at a point when he was enjoying a great deal of commercial success (post-Wings, early ’80s, “Ebony & Ivory”/”Say Say Say”). While he’s not selling records at the level that he was thirty years ago, his new albums routinely debut in […]
Award Show Sundays: Jam & Lewis Are In Control
So, several of us on the site have been talking about doing an article on the best work of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. I think the reason we haven’t gotten it started yet is because it’s such a daunting task. Since their days in the Time, this Minneapolis twosome has been racking up the writing and producing credits for…well, everybody. A quick sampling of the artists that have benefited from their golden ears: Alexander O’ Neal, Mariah Carey, Karyn […]
Award Show Sundays: Non Blondes on Billboard
The Billboard Music Awards returns to the television airwaves tonight after an absence of several years. The show has been retooled somewhat. Now, instead of providing a breakdown of chart feats during the calendar year, the show will now reflect a somewhat vague combination of sales, airplay and a series of social media tools. Performers on the show will include Rihanna, The Black Eyed Peas and Pitbull, with a special achievement award being given to Beyonce Knowles. Guess what? I […]
Award Show Sundays: No More Games Edition
The bootylicious Jennifer Lopez was on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” earlier this week promoting her new album, Love?, as well as her judgeship on “American Idol” when Leno asked her about her first big-deal dancing gig. Lopez revealed that it was on a 1991 American Music Awards performance with pop darlings New Kids on the Block. Of course, Leno then pulled out a clip of the performance and showed it to the audience, appearing to mortify J. Lo. […]
Award Show Sundays: A Red Hot Free-for-All
So I’m reading Anthony Kiedis’ autobiography, Scar Tissue, and I have to admit, I’m having kind of a tough time getting through it. I just passed the part where they hired Rick Rubin to produce Blood Sugar Sex Majik, and up until now, the book’s pretty much been “I did lots of drugs”/”I boned this chick”/”we did some crazy shit on stage”. Granted, that seems to be the typical rock and roll story, but..I don’t know. I was somehow expecting […]
Award Show Sundays: LL Brings Hip-Hop to Middle America
While I don’t know that anyone’s calling him the G.O.A.T. anymore, LL Cool J is still one of the people who should be chiseled onto the hip-hop Mount Rushmore. His lyricism is actually at the point where it could be called underrated, he was certainly a trendsetter, he was hip-hop’s first sex symbol, made hip-hop’s first successful comeback, and to this day, is regarded as one of the genre’s (or any genre’s) most dynamic live performers. The performance we’re featuring […]
Award Show Sundays: Marvin’s Last Stand
April 2nd would have been the 72nd birthday of Marvin Gaye. It’s hard to imagine that he’s been gone for almost thirty years. Despite the fact that I was only 7 when he passed, I still remember hearing the news of his death very clearly. It was the first time that a musician I was very cognizant of as a recent hitmaker had passed away-and in such bizarre fashion as well. I’m sure many folks who are older must have […]
Award Show Sundays: Turning the Queen Loose
You can never go wrong with some Aretha (well, at least not most of the time), so let’s celebrate her birthday (which was earlier this week) with a clip from the 1980 Grammy Awards. A fine looking QOS turns the crowd out with a version of “I Can’t Turn You Loose”. This was right around the time that Aretha was re-establishing herself into the public conscious following three or four years of albums that weren’t especially successful. I often wonder […]