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 shows
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 […]
Award Show Sundays: Next Time Stay Home, Eddie
I love Pearl Jam. Really, I do. There was a brief period in junior or senior year of high school when I used to rag on my best friend for worshipping the ground they walked on, but then he lent me his tape of Ten and my teenage mind was blown. Although they’ve had their moments that have left me befuddled (hello, No Code), I am a fan to this day, not least because I feel like Eddie Vedder has […]
Award Show Sundays: From One Set of Blue-Eyed Soul Boys to Another
It just struck me…maybe Jimmy Fallon got the idea for the Barry Gibb talk show from this performance? The year was 2003. After a three year run as America’s best-selling act, *Nsync had already splintered, and singer Justin Timberlake was well on his way to solo superstardom via his album, Justified. Even with that in mind, no one could have known that the group’s appearance on that year’s Grammy Awards show would wind up being their last televised appearance as […]
Award Show Sundays: The American Music Awards Gets Gangsta
It’s probably hard for those under 25 to grasp, but even in the early Nineties, hip-hop was still persona non grata on mainstream, primetime television. Whereas nowadays, “60 Minutes” does interviews with Eminem, Jay-Z appears on “Oprah” and you can find name-your-rap-artist on late night TV, back in the day the only rappers you’d occasionally find on network TV were the pop-oriented Young MC types. That extended to award shows as well. Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre’s performance on […]
Chart Stalker 2/23/11: Love Those Grammys!
With the Grammy Awards achieving their highest ratings in a decade, it figures that this week’s Billboard Chart is one of the busiest in recent memory. Artists who performed on the show, won awards, and even artists that presented on the show have marked increases in sales. Of course, it helps when you not only perform on the show, but release a new album in the same week. Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never-Remixes bows on top of Billboard’s album chart […]
Popblerd! Presents: Your 2011 Grammy Awards Live Blog (& Drinking Game)!
award shows / Country Music / hip-hop / Indie Rock / music / news / pop culture / Pop Music / rock music / soul music
Some folks go crazy over the Academy Awards. Some folks go nuts over the Super Bowl. For me, unless a New York City team is in the World Series or Super Bowl, my most exciting pop culture event has to be the Grammy Awards. It intrigued me as a kid-it was probably the first award show I ever saw. I believe it was the 1980 ceremony, and all I remember is that The Doobie Brothers were performing, I was watching […]
Popblerd!’s 2011 Grammy Preview: General Field
And now, here are the big’uns. The Grammy Awards are tonight, and so far, we’ve looked at picks for rap, country, R&B, pop, dance and rock. All that’s left (besides polka, classical and a bunch of other categories I know absolutely nothing about) are the major, prestige categories. So, without further ado, let’s see who’s up for the serious hardware on “music’s biggest night”, and don’t forget that I will be live-blogging the show tonight, with updates on the site […]
Popblerd!’s 2010 Grammy Preview: Country
Hey Folks, I can’t say I’m the world’s foremost authority when it comes to country music. So this year, I farmed out the prediction process to my buddy Matt Bjorke, who runs Roughstock.com ! Matt, who has guested on the Blerd Radio podcast in the past, is THE man when it comes to country music, and I thank him for helping me out and offering his take on the country categories this year. Take it away, Matt!! 2010 was considered by […]
