Shier than what?

I’ve always wondered when the transition would take place. I knew that it would be different for me, because of who I am and what I like, but nonetheless the transition has occurred and it’s far worse than I expected!

I can’t relate to the Grammy’s – and in general I’ve lost touch with today’s music.

The transition from child, to adult to old fart has happened.

I know that it’s different, because my parents REALLY hated my music, and I only “don’t like” my kids music. I know that it’s different because mom liked Sinatra and I love the Clash, AC/DC and Springsteen and even went as far as to introduce my kids to Black Sabbath at a young age ( I really wish I had a camera to film a 3 year old Jake in the back seat of my car banging his head on his seat restraint to Iron Man!). So I love some of the greatest bands in history, and am really in tune with the current crop of pop artists. There are two music genres that I don’t like, Opera and Crap. Crap is basically where my kids have laid their hats. Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, Lady Ga Ga. With the exception of Justin, there is a good chance that none of the artist’s will make it out of the 00’s!

Watching last night’s Grammy awards was intriguing to say the least. Highlights included Smokey and Jamie singing with the last living member of the Four Tops. Neil Diamond proving that he really is schlocky, that’s not just his style, it’s who he is! But to top it off, an inventor of heavy metal won the biggest awards of the night for his collaboration with a country and western fiddler from Illinois. Robert Plant, formerly of some English band called Led Zeppelin has sold 125 million albums worldwide. In the 1970’s Led Zeppelin spent about 5 years at the top of the charts, at one point earning the distinction of “greatest rock n roll band” (the stones were doing Disco – no one knew any better!). In his career prior to last night, Robert Plant had earned precisely two Grammys. One for the same album a year ago and one for a special get together duet with Jimmy Page in 1999. Allison Krauss, on the other hand, had previously won 20 Grammy’s – you figure it out. In accepting Artist or Album of the year, their fifth of the night, Plant’s comment was fairly precise – “In the old days this was called selling out, now this is called a nice way to spend a Sunday night!” really that’s what it comes down to. Was the Plant – Krauss duet the “best album” of 2008? Well I liked it a lot, but listed it 4^th among the five nominees. Hey I like Ne-yo, what can I say! Radiohead could never win this award because they turned their back on NARAS by omitting a record company – GASP! In fact another great thing about the Grammy’s was that Radiohead won the Indie award which is called the Alternative Award, because the academy is really against the concept of Indie bands. In fact the academy nominated a grand total of one Indie band out of five nominees that were actually really Indie acts. Radiohead is the only record without label distribution. If one were able to computer Indie sales and put them against the numbers that the record companies report, Radiohead’s In Rainbow’s might have been the number one selling CD of 2008 – So sad that the world downplays downloading as a viable option of earning money for one’s intellectual properties!

Overall I actually think that the Grammy’s were a fairly decent show, but God I can’t stand the bubblegum pop that is being disguised as music these days – Run away and don’t come back if you are a boy band, girl band or anyone who has dated anyone in one of those bands. And pull up your damn pants Lil’ Wayne.