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 […]
award shows
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 Special: The 2011 BET Awards Live Blog
It’s been a minute since we live-blogged an awards show around these parts. I gave some consideration to doing some commentary on the Billboard Music Awards, but got pulled into another direction-a move that turned out to be a wise one (since all of the clips I saw from the show and all of the commentary I saw on social media was lukewarm.) I have a love-hate relationship with the BET Awards (to say nothing of my largely HATE relationship […]
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: The Wrath of Kane
In a way, it’s kind of sad that the network that threw the gauntlet down for quality hip-hop programming was VH-1. After all, when the genre was in full flower, VH-1 was probably best known for throwing down Air Supply and Lionel Richie videos. However, by the time the 21st century rolled around, the network had made it’s peace with the genre, and when they rolled out their annual Hip-Hop Honors program, they not only staked their claim as a […]
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 […]
Chris Brown Leads 2011 BET Awards Nominees
Following his crocodile tear-stained “tribute” to Michael Jackson on last year’s BET Awards, the cable network has announced that singer/actor Chris Brown has received the most nominations for this year’s ceremony. Brown, whose career looked to be over after an assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna, has completed an unexpected comeback this year. His fourth album, F.A.M.E., has already spawned five hit singles and was recently certified Gold for sales of over 500,000 copies. He’ll be vying for the Video of […]
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 […]
