Out of all the categories of the Grammy Awards, the one that remains the most questionable, divisive and maligned is Best New Artist. While many of the winners did go on to have enduring and admired careers like Sade, The Carpenters, Mariah Carey, Tom Jones, Bette Midler, Adele and The Beatles, there are just as many artists who won this award that never repeated their initial success and the winning of this Grammy was the highlight of their careers. Anyone remember The Swingle Singers, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Starland Vocal Band, Marc Cohn, Debby Boone, Evanescence and Milli Vanilli, who actually had their award rescinded after it was discovered that the duo did not sing a note on their album. The Wrap does a run-down of all the Grammy winners of this prize and the other nominees in the category. Some of the surprising losers include Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Kanye West, The Eagles, Elvis Costello, Green Day and Luther Vandross.
With the Kevin Hart hosting scandal creating some unwanted attention to this year’s Oscars, the Academy have found themselves in another mess but this time it appears to be of their own making. A rumor surfaced that the telecast would only invite two of the five Best Original Song nominees to perform (with the two being the pop hits from Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga). The issue intensified when the Academy did not deny this was accurate which created swift backlash. Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted to the Academy his unhappiness with this plan and reminded them the importance of hearing all of the nominees on the program. I agree completely with Mr Miranda that the songs have always been an enjoyable part of the Oscars and feel strongly that you should either invite all or no one. I think it’s rude and disrespectful to the nominees to be picking and choosing who gets to perform on the show.
But it seems the Academy have come to their senses (and apparently with a little nudge from Lady Gaga) and announced that all the five Original Songs will be performed live although in a shorter 90 second format. I’m not sure yet what is worse.
So that means we will see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper recreating their moment in the movie, "A Star Is Born" with "Shallow"; Jennifer Hudson performing "I'll Fight", the theme song for the smash documentary, "RBG" about Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg which was written by Diane Warren who has received her tenth nomination in this category (and most likely to lose for the tenth time); David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, the writers of the song, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from the Coen Brothers' western comedy, "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs", will sing their nominated tune and a "Surprise Special Guest" will perform the song from "Mary Poppins Returns", "The Place Where Lost Things Go" since actress, Emily Blunt, who sang the song in the movie, declined. There is no official word yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will appear to perform their hit song, "All The Stars" from "Black Panther". As for the winner, I think "Shallow" has a slight edge to take the Oscar but my personal choice would be "All The Stars". But we will see on February 24th when the 91st Annual Academy Awards will be presented. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:
"All The Stars" from "Black Panther": Music by Kendrick Lamar, Mark “Sounwave” Spears and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith
"I'll Fight" from "RBG": Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Return": Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
"Shallow" from "A Star Is Born": Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
"When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs": Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
A gifted r&b vocalist best known as a romantic balladeer, James Ingram was also an award-winning songwriter and producer who has sadly passed away on January 29th at the age of sixty-six. He had been quietly battling brain cancer. He is survived by his wife, Debra and they had been married since 1975.
Born in Akron, Ohio, Ingram sang in his church choir as a child and taught himself how to play the piano. Not long after finishing high school, he made his way to Los Angeles to try his luck as a professional musician. He played keyboards for several bands (including briefly backing for Ray Charles) and worked as a demo singer. It was during the time that Quincy Jones was looking for material for what would become his 1981 album, "The Dude" that would change the course of James Ingram’s career. Jones heard the demo for "Just Once", written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and he became not only interested in the song but also the singer. He used Ingram not only on that track but also "One Hundred Ways". Both songs became top-twenty hits and would help Ingram win his first Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
Some other highlights in his musical career includes Ingram performing a duet with Patti Austin, another protégé of Quincy Jones, on the love ballad, "Baby, Come To Me" which became his first number one on the pop chart. The two paired up again for another love song, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" for the 1982 film, "Best Friends" which earned a Grammy and Oscar nomination. Ingram became a go-to artist for singing songs on movie soundtracks with his most notable being a duet with Linda Rondstadt with "Somewhere Out There" for the 1986 animated feature, "An American Tail". He was also nominated twice for a Best Original Song Oscar with the songs he co-wrote for the movies, "Beethoven's 2nd" (1993) and "Junior" (1994). And in 1990, Ingram received his second number one pop single and only one as a solo artist with "I Don't Have The Heart".
With a distinctive voice that could effortlessly go from a tender whisper to a passionate growl, James Ingram managed to deliver a heated sensuality to his songs of romance yet always kept it classy. He was a masterful talent whose contributions to music will greatly be missed. Here are a few of my personal favorites by the one and only James Ingram:
Dua Lipa has provided a song for the upcoming action movie, "Alita: Battle Angel" and it looks like another hit for the hot, young singer from Britain. "Swan Song", which Lipa co-wrote with American hit-maker, Justin Tranter and an army of Swedish producers, is an empowerment anthem about staying focused and never losing faith which seems to fit perfectly with the theme of the film's cyber-punk manga character.
Country star, Maren Morris had one of the biggest pop hits of last year when she teamed-up with dance music producers, Zedd and Grey on "The Middle". This worldwide smash single received three Grammy nominations including Record of the Year. Many were curious if she would pull a "Taylor Swift" and abandon his country music success for the universal appeal of pop for her next album. We now have some idea as Morris has just dropped a new single called "Girl". While she sticks to her roots on this uplifting ballad in support of womanhood, the guitar-driven song will still be appealing to her newfound fans. No exact date has been set for the release of the follow-up album to her 2016 debut, "Hero" but Morris is preparing to hit the road for the Girl World Tour which will begin in March.
Ariana Grande may have another hit on hands with "7 Rings" but this time it's mired in a little controversy. Not one but two different artists have accused the singer of ripping off their music with 2 Chainz and New York rapper, Princess Nokia rumbling with accusations of "7 Rings" sounding too much like their songs. Ever since the ridiculous court ruling against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over their "Blurred Lines" sounding too much like Marvin Gaye's 1977 song, "Got To Give It Up", it seems like even more artists are claiming their work is being stolen by other musicians. Now let's just keep it real; there isn't anything truly "original" anymore. You can find an influence of someone else's previous work in all of the arts. It's just that some of the "inspiration" is more obvious in some cases than with others. Here is the music video for Grande's tune and then you can listen to 2 Chainz's 2011 song, "Spend It" which he claims was used for her song. While there is certainly a similarity between the hook of the two songs, you be the judge:
And here is a fun take-off of "7 Rings" featuring Nyle DiMarco, the deaf male model who first found fame after winning on the reality competition show, "America's Top Model" and later the champ on "Dancing With The Stars" in 2016. The clip, directed by Jake Wilson, has DiMarco recreating Grande's video while signing the lyrics.
Normani, a member of the girl-group. Fifth Harmony who are on an indefinite hiatus, has been actively moving on as a solo performer but has recently become the Queen of the duets. Following her successful collaborations with Khalid, 6lack, and Calvin Harris, the only twenty-two year old singer has recently teamed-up with another prominent pop artist; Sam Smith.
"Dancing With a Stranger" is a song Smith wrote while on tour supporting his last album, "The Thrill of It All" and by chance he was in the recording studio at the same time Normani was there. As a big fan of her band, Smith jumped at the chance to invite her to sing with him on the track. This sensual, mid-tempo dance tune is a perfect way to kick off the year.
Lady Gaga has impressed audiences and critics alike with her exceptional performance of an aspiring singer last year in the fourth movie version of "A Star Is Born". She has won several critics awards and might even be nominated next week and could potentially win an Oscar. This Number One Flashback looks back when Lady Gaga's early breakthrough single, "Just Dance" was on top of the U.S. Billboard chart this week in 2009. She co-wrote the song with Akon (who had his own successful music career) and RedOne who also produced the track and her first number one song helped kick off her amazing journey as an international pop superstar.
Much like the character she played, Stefani Germanotta struggled for years trying to make her career happen. She paid her dues by playing numerous small gigs around New York City and passing around her demos before actually getting a record deal with Def Jam Records. However, she was dropped a few months later.
Discouraged but not giving up, she was inspired by the Queen song, "Radio Ga Ga" and took on the name "Lady Gaga". She teamed-up with performance artist, Lady Starlight who helped her develop a stage persona and they performed together, most notably at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival. Gaga got a publishing deal with Sony and began writing songs for the label's hot pop acts. After hearing Gaga sing, Akon was quite impressed. He began using her as a vocal guide on his demos and eventually helped her get a new recording contract. She later met RedOne and he worked on some tracks for her debut album on Cherrytree Records. The album, "The Fame" was released in 2008 and was met with some resistance from radio stations saying the record was too dance-oriented and underground. But Lady Gaga was confident that there was an audience for her music and the rest is history.
I think 2018 was a great year in music that offered something for everyone. While hip-hop and rap continued to dominate the music industry, I'm particularly thrilled that good old-fashioned soul music found it's way back on the airwaves and the charts. We had young, new artists like Ella Mai, H.E.R., Daniel Caesar and Jorja Smith who are reviving the r&b tradition and the return of classic performers like Toni Braxton, Tank, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi and Tamia whose new music was actually getting played on radio. This is one trend I hope continues in to 2019. And to close out 2018, here are a few songs that I loved last year that I didn't get a chance to share:
