THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602240059
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 257 lines
THIS YEAR, the Grammys have gotten a little hipper.
Or so the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, which hands out the yearly honors would have us think. No more Album of the Year nominations for an embarrassment like ``The 3 Tenors in Concert.'' It's strictly quality, streetwise stuff in '96.
Never mind that even with one hand in your pocket, you could pick a more valid disc than Morissette's whiny ``Jagged Little Pill.'' Or that Michael Jackson's overhyped, undernourished ``HIStory'' also stands as an Album of the Year nominee.
A new day or more business as usual? You be the judge as we run down some likely winners and our own choices.
Record of the Year.
Coolio's ``Gangsta's Paradise,'' marks only the second time a flat-out rap single turns up in the top category. (The first was five years ago, with M.C. Hammer's ``U Can't Touch This.'') Too bad the gritty tale will alienate the aging mainstream voters. TLC's ``Waterfalls'' might do it in any other year, but competition between ``One Sweet Day,'' the Mariah Carey/Boyz II Men duet, and Seal's ubiquitous ``Kiss From a Rose'' will be fierce. As for Joan Osborne's secular hymn ``One of Us,'' well, Sheryl Crow copped the big one last year for ``All I Wanna Do.''
Should win: ``Gangsta's Paradise''
Will win: ``Kiss From a Rose''
Album of the Year.
Michael? Nah; Grammy's done its duty by the one-time thriller by just including him in this fast company. The nod for Pearl Jam's ``Vitalogy'' was a pleasant surprise: Someone at the staid Academy noticed the world's biggest rock group has been getting better and better. With the real contenders Carey's ``Daydream,'' Morissette's ``Pill'' and Osborne's ``Relish,'' we're going out on a limb to predict a win for an artist who looks to have some staying power.
Should win: ``Vitalogy''
Will win: ``Relish''
Best New Artist.
Whoops. We're apparently supposed to ignore the two Canada-only CDs of producer-driven dance-pop that preceded Alanis Morissette's nasty-girl breakthrough. Likewise, new-country superstar Shania Twain put out her debut a few years before the current multiplatinum ``Woman in Me.'' At least Hootie & the Blowfish's pre-``Cracked Rear View'' releases were only sold at their club gigs. Brandy probably won't get the props her strong voice deserves. That leaves another apparent upset in the works.
Should win: Joan Osborne
Will win: Joan Osborne
Alternative Music Performance
Except maybe for the Presidents of the United States of America's self-titled debut, it's a strong field. But look for Bjork's ``Post,'' PJ Harvey's ``To Bring You My Love'' and Foo Fighters' self-titled CD to be overshadowed by Nirvana's heartstopping ``MTV Unplugged in New York.''
Should win: ``Unplugged'' (Nirvana)
Will win: ``Unplugged'' (Nirvana)
Country Album
Grammy is playing catch-up with Junior Brown, whose ``Junior High'' is a brief collection chocked with previously released tracks. The Mavericks' ``Music for All Occasions'' isn't one you'd play at a party. If Twain's ``Woman in Me'' was a sitcom, it'd be on Fox. Trisha Yearwood's ``Thinkin' About You'' has spots of greatness. Dwight Yoakam's ``Dwight Live'' is a powerhouse, but unlikely to outpunch John Michael Montgomery's something-for-everybody self-titled third album.
Should win: ``Dwight Live'' (Dwight Yoakam)
Will win: ``John Michael Montgomery'' (John Michael Montgomery)
Grammy notes
The Dave Matthews Band goes from Charlottesville to a Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal nomination for ``What Would You Say.'' The tune's video is also here, in the short-form category.
Richmond-bred prodigy D'Angelo is up for Male R&B Vocal Performance, R&B Song and R&B Album honors, all thanks to his ``Brown Sugar.''
Williamsburg's Bruce Hornsby, Best New Artist in 1986, caught a Pop Instrumental Performance nomination for ``Song B'' this time out. ``Love Me Still,'' a song he wrote with Chaka Khan and recorded by her on the ``Clockers'' soundtrack, is on the short list for the Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television trophy.
D'Angelo role models Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder are scheduled to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards, which will also go to jazzer Dave Brubeck and conductor Georg Solti. Trustees Awards are waiting for Beatles producer George Martin and former Atlantic Records honcho Jerry Wexler.
Among nominees for a non-classical engineering award is White Zombie's ``Astro-Creep 2000: Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Joan Osborne
John Michael Montgomery
Mariah Carey
Graphic
THE NOMINATIONS for the 38th annual Grammy Awards are:
Record of the Year:
``One Sweet Day,'' Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (Walter
Afanasieff and Carey, producers).
``Gangsta's Paradise,'' Coolio featuring L.V. (Doug Rasheed,
producer).
``One of Us,'' Joan Osborne (Rick Chertoff, producer).
``Kiss From a Rose,'' Seal (Trevor Horn, producer).
``Waterfalls,'' TLC (Organized Noize, producer).
Album of the Year:
``Daydream,'' Mariah Carey (Walter Afanasieff, Carey, Jermaine
Dupri, Dave Hall, David Morales & Manuel Seal, producers).
``HIStory - Past, Present and Future Book I,'' Michael Jackson
(Dallas Austin, Bill Bottrell, David Foster, Janet Jackson, Michael
Jackson, Jimmy Jam, R. Kelly, Terry Lewis, Rene and Bruce Swedien,
producers).
``Jagged Little Pill,'' Alanis Morissette (Glen Ballard,
producer).
``Relish,'' Joan Osborne (Rick Chertoff, producer).
``Vitalogy,'' Pearl Jam (Brendan O'Brien and Pearl Jam,
producers).
Song of the Year:
``I Can Love You Like That,'' Maribeth Derry, Steve Diamond,
Jennifer Kimball (All-4-One, artist).
``Kiss From a Rose,'' Seal (Seal, artist).
``One of Us,'' Eric Bazilian (Joan Osborne, artist).
``You Are Not Alone,'' R. Kelly (Michael Jackson, artist).
``You Oughta Know,'' Glen Ballard, Alanis Morissette (Morissette,
artist).
Best New Artist:
Brandy
Hootie & the Blowfish
Alanis Morissette
Joan Osborne
Shania Twain
Best Pop Album:
``Daydream,'' Mariah Carey (Walter Afanasieff and Carey,
producers).
``Hell Freezes Over,'' the Eagles (Eagles, Rob Jacobs and Elliot
Scheiner, producers).
``Medusa,'' Annie Lennox (Stephen Lipson, producer).
``Bedtime Stories,'' Madonna (Madonna, producer).
``Turbulent Indigo,'' Joni Mitchell (Larry Klein and Mitchell,
producers).
Best Rock Album:
``Forever Blue,'' Chris Isaak (Erik Jacobsen, producer).
``Jagged Little Pill,'' Alanis Morissette (Glen Ballard,
producer).
``Vitalogy,'' Pearl Jam (Brendan O'Brien and Pearl Jam,
producers).
``Wildflowers,'' Tom Petty (Mike Campbell, Tom Petty and Rick
Rubin, producers).
``Mirror Ball,'' Neil Young (Brendan O'Brien, producer).
Best Alternative Music Performance, Vocal or Instrumental:
``Post,'' Bjork.
``Foo Fighters,'' Foo Fighters.
``To Bring You My Love,'' PJ Harvey.
``MTV Unplugged in New York,'' Nirvana.
``The Presidents of the United States of America,'' the
Presidents of the United States of America.
Best R&B Album:
``My Life,'' Mary J. Blige (Sean ``Puffy'' Combs, Chucky
Thompson, producers).
``Brown Sugar,'' D'Angelo (D'Angelo, producer).
``The Gold Experience,'' artist formerly known as Prince (artist
formerly known as Prince, producer).
``CrazySexyCool,'' TLC.
``The Icon Is Love,'' Barry White (White, producer).
Best Rap Album:
``E.1999 Eternal,'' Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (D.J. U-Neek,
producer).
``Poverty's Paradise,'' Naughty by Nature (Naughty by Nature,
producer).
``Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,'' Ol' Dirty
Bastard (the RZA, producer).
``I Wish,'' Skee-Lo (Walter ``Kandor'' Kahn and Skee-Lo,
producers).
``Me Against the World,'' 2Pac.
Best Country Album:
``Junior High,'' Junior Brown (Brown, producer).
``Music for All Occasions,'' the Mavericks (Don Cook, Raul Malo,
producers).
``John Michael Montgomery'' (Scott Hendricks, producer).
``The Woman in Me,'' Shania Twain (Robert John ``Mutt'' Lange,
producer).
``Thinkin' About You,'' Trisha Yearwood (Garth Fundis,
producer).
``Dwight Live,'' Dwight Yoakam (Pete Anderson, producer).
Graphic
Grammy Trivia
SNIPPETS ABOUT THE GRAMMYS
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Who Never Won a Grammy: The Band,
the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, the Byrds, Sam Cooke, Creedence
Clearwater Revival, Cream, the Doors, the Drifters, the Four Tops,
the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, the Jackson 5, the Jefferson
Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Little Richard, Bob
Marley, Van Morrison, Phil Spector, the Supremes, the Velvet
Underground, the Who, Hank Williams Sr. (The Rolling Stones' only
Grammy came last year - for ``Voodoo Lounge'' as best rock album -
long after the group was inducted into the rock hall.)
People Who Have Won More Grammys Than Chuck Berry: Bob Newhart
(his ``Button-Down Mind'' was album of the year for 1960); the Rev.
Jesse Jackson (best spoken-word performance, 1988, for a track on
Aretha Franklin's album ``One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism''); Magic
Johnson (best spoken-word performance, 1992, for ``What You Can Do
to Avoid AIDS'').
Clergy Rock: Jackson isn't the only person of the cloth to win.
The 1970 spoken-word award went to a posthumous release of speeches
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and between 1981 and 1989, the
Rev. Al Green won eight awards in the soul and soul gospel
categories. Sister Luc-Gabrielle, the Singing Nun, won 1963's gospel
award for ``Dominique'' but lost in the record of the year race to
Henry Mancini's ``The Days of Wine and Roses.''
Comedy Tonight: Vaughn Meader's ``The First Family'' took album
of the year honors for 1962, giving comedy two wins in the top slot
in three years. They were the only two nonmusical recordings to win
in a top category.
Who Beat the Beatles?: ``Hello Dolly!'' (1964 song of the year
over ``A Hard Day's Night''); Petula Clark's ``Downtown'' (topped
``A Hard Day's Night'' as 1964's best rock 'n' roll recording); Glen
Campbell's ``By the Time I Get to Phoenix'' (1968's album of the
year over ``Magical Mystery Tour''). The Beatles won for best new
group and best vocal performance for ``A Hard Day's Night'' in 1964,
and album of the year and best contemporary album for ``Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' in 1967.
TKO: Pudgy song satirist Allan Sherman scored a knockout over
young Cassius Clay when his letter from camp, ``Hello Muddah Hello
Faddah,'' beat ``I Am the Greatest'' for 1963's best comedy
recording.
How Great He Was: Elvis Presley won three Grammys - but only for
his late-'60s and early-'70s religious recordings.
African American Firsts: It wasn't until the 15th Grammy
presentation, in 1973, that an African American won in one of the
top four categories, with Roberta Flack getting record of the year
for ``The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face''; Natalie Cole was first
to win best new artist, in 1975.
Backhanded Compliments: The only Grammy ever won by
composer-arranger Neil Hefti - noted for his work with Woody Herman
and Count Basie, author of the jazz standard ``Li'l Darlin',''
composer of ``The Odd Couple'' score - was for writing the 1966
``Batman'' TV theme. . . . Dean Torrance's musical talents with Jan
& Dean were never deemed worthy of a Grammy, but his graphic arts
skills earned him the 1971 album cover award for an album by the
group Pollution.
Source: Steve Hochman, Special to the Los Angeles Times
by CNB