Meet The Nominees Vol. 1

Kate Bush

A year ago I can’t imagine, despite whatever supernatural powers she may possess, that Kate Bush could have envisioned what 2022 had in store for her. The year began with her 3rd HOF nomination for which I would imagine she had solid support but ultimately not enough to gain induction. And then Stranger Things happened and everything changed.

Years ago Billboard tweaked its rules for Hot 100 eligibility, making it possible for older songs to rechart. That’s why the top of the chart in December is filled with Christmas classics. We’ve seen instances of songs returning to the charts following a performer’s death, the phenomenon of NWA earning their first pop hit after their biopic hit theaters, and we learned that a TikTok video of a skateboarder chilling while sipping cranberry juice and listening to Fleetwood Mac can spur a resurgence in a classic song’s popularity. But none of this compared to the impact of Running Up That Hill.

In all of the aforementioned examples the recurring hit landed on the charts for only a week or two and then vanished from the charts, but Running Up That Hill took hold and remained in the top 10 for weeks. Some of it was due to older fans getting a reminder of her greatness, some of it was due to younger fans being introduced to her singular talent, but whatever the reasons were, Kate Bush spent last summer as one of the most successful recording artists in the world. I mentioned in a previous newsletter that if the timing were slightly different she would be in the Hall now. If Netflix had dropped Stranger Things a few months earlier or if last year’s voting would have taken place months later she would have been in the forefront of voters minds and easily gotten the support she needed. The question is if that momentum remains.

As far as her credentials go, she is more than deserving of the honor. There is no one on the planet that has a voice quite like hers. Mixing that otherworldly voice with her art rock leanings and visual flair created a unique talent. Years before the birth of MTV, she was producing elaborate videos, adding points to the pioneer ledger on her checklist. Before last year her impact was much larger in the UK than it was on this side of the pond, but there is certainly precedence for honoring artists with more of a British footprint.

If elected, will she perform at the ceremony? Absolutely not. She stopped performing live very early on in her career, focusing on her recordings and videos. Having not sang live in decades, it certainly would not happen for this event. The larger question is if she would attend. Depending on how one looks at her lifestyle she is either an intensely private person or a recluse. She does regularly send out video messages to her fans, so it’s probably an exaggeration to call her a hermit, but the chances still appear slim to think she would hop on a plane and fly overseas to attend the ceremony. The best that event organizers could hope for would be to have her record a thank you video and have that played at the ceremony.

Her biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit: Running Up That Hill

My personal favorite: Love and Anger

Potential Side Category Inductee - The Wailers

In 2012, the Hall corrected an oversight and inducted several backing bands that should’ve been initially honored along with their lead singers such as The Crickets and The Miracles among others. With the exception of The E Street Band a couple of years later that hasn’t happened since, but there are a handful of bands that are deserving of earning the Musical Excellence honor. The Wailers would be one.

In this instance I’m not necessarily talking about Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, although they would certainly be included were this induction to happen. What I have in mind are the musicians who played behind Bob Marley during his heyday, players such as Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, and Junior Marvin as well as the I-Threes backing singers - Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffiths. The fact that all of the albums released during his 1980s run were fully credited to Bob Marley & The Wailers makes their omission much more glaring.

The band provided the soundtrack for every college dorm room of the last 40+ years. Essentially each incoming freshman gets handed two things on the first day of orientation - a room key and a copy of Legend. Their impact was due largely to Marley’s genius and vision, but the fact that his band was as tight as it was added a crucial component. They more than earned a spot in the Hall in their own right.

SNL Recap

I was really rooting for Pedro Pascal. He seems to be a likable guy, and he made for a charming host who was clearly having a good time. But unfortunately this was one of the weaker episodes of the season, notwithstanding a random Sarah Paulson cameo.

This week featured one of the better cold opens of the year as it focused on the downing of the spy balloon. Chloe’s Katy Tur interviewed Bowen as the downed balloon. It’s a type of premise that Bowen has done before, but he does it so well, utilizing the same level of bitchiness as he did when he has portrayed inanimate objects in the past. The sketch’s success was largely due to the performance, but that’s OK. Sometimes it’s the singer not the song. Pascal’s monologue was highlighted by the observation that without the helmet his mandalorian voice sounds “porny.” He closed with a touching story of his parents fleeing Pinochet’s Chile as he was 9 months old which allowed him to build a life in a country that he loves. Sadly I don’t think his tale of escaping a Latin American dictatorship to find refuge in the United States will resonate with the people that need to hear it.

I usually don’t like to single out a taped piece as the week’s highlight, but I have to go with the Wing Nut commercial parody. Seeing a spot like this air on the last show before the Super Bowl stirs memories of the Totinos Pizza Roll pieces that used to air in the Vanessa Bayer days, but I liked the way it continued to build into ever increasing lunacy until it turned into a flat out horror ad. Well done.

Otherwise, not much to speak of. Yet another game show sketch, but at least it had a twist. Usually the SNL game show parodies are predicated upon the stupidity of the contestants. In this case the participants in a Hollywood trivia game show were movie experts, but the comedy came from their inability to answer questions about anything current. The lightning round required Pascal to name any 3 movies that have come out in the last 5 years, which made him sweat. Not even the Update pieces stood out. Michael Longfellow appeared as a stoner Punxsutawney Phil, and James Austin Johnson and Devon Walker debuted a bit as British rappers, but neither made me clamor for more. And the closing sketch in which Ego shakes the table while trying to cut an excessively well-done steak may have had potential, but it was ruined by a little too much breaking.

Even with a smaller cast this season, fighting for airtime has gotta be a brutal experience. Andrew Dismukes was nowhere to be seen this episode, a mere week after he was in the spotlight multiple times.

The show returns February 25, with Woody Harrelson stepping in to join the Five Timers Club. I have higher hopes for that one.

Queen Bey

I could be wrong, but it appeared to me that there were fewer musical performances at this year’s Grammys than there been recently. Even if it was a bit short in quantity, it was not lacking in quality as the ceremony contained one of the most mind blowing, gobsmacking performances the show has ever had. As for the awards themselves, it’s hard to get too excited about the results. I mean, no disrespect to Bonnie Raitt, but Song of the Year in 2023? Really? That screams more “lifetime achievement award for a beloved veteran” than it does “yeah, this is the best song of the year.” But on this night there were some historical markers worth acknowledging.

We’ve got ourselves a new EGOT! A couple of years ago I looked at the list of performers that were only a Grammy short and the 2 names that stood out were Frances McDormand and Viola Davis. In both cases I thought that with their commanding voices somebody has got to hire them to read an audiobook. As it turned out, no need for that. Davis did it herself, narrating her own memoirs, and she has now completed the collection.

And then of course there is Beyoncé. Growing up watching the ceremony over the years and seeing the academy consistently reward the safest, most middle of the road artists imaginable, it almost seems like a victory to see her seize the record for most career victories. It’s still puzzling that for all of her hardware, only 1 victory has come from one of the Big 4 categories, but this is still a remarkable achievement.

I have mixed emotions when it comes to seeing great artists of a certain age. On one hand, it’s important to cherish them while they’re still with us. On the other hand, as one ages it’s inevitable that you see a certain amount of slippage. Maybe they can no longer hit the notes they once did. Maybe age has robbed them of crucial physicality. I’m happy to report that Stevie Wonder has still got it.

The majority of the performances were predictably strong. Brandi Carlile rocked the house, Lizzo was her typical charming self, Harry Styles continues to prove that he’s a pop master, Mary J. Blige put to shame the people that left her off this year’s HOF shortlist. And in what has become an awards show tradition, it took less than 5 minutes before we witnessed the first shot of Taylor Swift dancing in her seat.

But the 50 years of hip-hop celebration had every other performer playing second fiddle. I can’t imagine the planning it took and the logistics it entailed to move that many legends on and off stage so quickly. It was special to see so emcees that rarely rap anymore take their moment in the spotlight. Run! Queen Latifah! I loved seeing people who are big names that have never really had Grammy-level visibility. Too Short! Posdnous! If I had any quibble it’s that in order to squeeze so many rappers in a tight timeframe, most were only able to drop a couple of lines which meant that other than Busta Rhymes no one really had a chance to take off. And MC Lyte was sitting in the announcer’s booth, why not include her? Major kudos to Questlove and his Rolodex for putting this together. Oftentimes CBS lays on the promotion a little thick, promising moments that you will never forget. This time it was true.

My big awards show pet peeve is with the In Memoriam segment. Kacey Musgraves, Quavo, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Mick Fleetwood all performed respectfully in paying tribute to the late musicians that the show producers singled out, but one thing bugs me. There is no need to switch to a wide camera shot during the segment. There were at least a couple of moments where the camera pulled back so far that the name on the screen wasn’t clear for the viewer. The men and women are all deserving of that final moment of respect and it bothers me when they don’t get it.

Good Riddance

Congratulations Dallas, Kyrie Irving is your headache now. It’s always a little tricky to judge locker room dynamics from the outside. Irving’s teammates have always stood behind him publicly, but who knows how they really feel behind closed doors? I would say, though, that based on his departures from Boston and now Brooklyn, Irving is clearly much too high maintenance and is way more trouble than he’s worth.

Everyone knows a guy like that; someone who always claims to be the smartest guy in the room and thinks he’s a bigger expert than the experts because of the reading he’s done. His flat earth proclamations were one thing, although I have no idea what the purpose of that was. Letting your teammates down by missing games due to refusing the vaccine and later refusing to apologize for spreading antisemitism on social media is something else entirely. As great of a player as he is, he is also the most unreliable superstar I can think of. He long ago reached the point where he just was not worth it.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, and Luka Doncic, you have my sympathy. Let’s prepare for The Great Brooklyn Homecoming Of Spencer Dinwiddie.

In Closing

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