Entertainment For Lively Minds
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are being revealed today. No doubt what's left of the majors will divi up who gets what, but what I found a little odd was this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7839505.stm
So, the Brits are not going to count anything that didn't hit the Top 40. Well that's great news for the popular. Not so good if you're genuinely very exciting but not a seller. Seeing as The Top 40 regularly hosts up to two/three singles from certain artists - this week: Beyonce, Kings Of Leon, the Aloud, Saturdays, Alesha Dixon, Kanye West, Pink, Lady Gaga and Rihanna - it's not really encouraging is it?
You now have a situation where Jeff Buckley is hypothetically eligible for an award for his input to music in 2008, but Bon Iver, Laura Marling, The Week That Was, Neon Neon, The Bug - and very nearly TV On The Radio - aren't. Nuts.
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Should we care?
The only reason I care about whether the Brits happen or not is that whether I like it or not we'll be bombarded with articles about it that assume we're all really interested in who or what wins. It's clear from other recent topics that many of the word massive won't have even heard the winner if it's restricted to the Top40 charts. It's a bit like the oscars, why would we be interested in who won when we haven't seen (and in many cases wouldn't be able to see for a few months) all the entrants.
But
it's the Brits. As you say the majors will divi up....It's always been that way. The only time anything interesting happened that I can remember award wise was when Belle & Sebastion used something called the interweb to make Steps cry.
Be interesting to see if there are any signs of spending cut backs though...
Does this mean
that the Pet Shop Boys won't be receiving an outstanding contribution award after all, then? It's been a long old time since they graced the top 40
they hit number 8 in 2006
according to wikipedia. Obviously their imperial reign is long over, but they *do* still trouble the charts with the 'first-single-off-the-album'
Most played song on the radio this week
is, I’d wager, the new Girls Aloud single, The Loving Kind, written by (no definite article) Pet Shop Boys. Can’t move for the works of veterans on Radio 2 at the moment. If it’s not Glen Campbell singing John Lennon’s Grow Old With Me it’s James Taylor doing Smokey’s It’s Growing. Can’t stand awards shows but if gongs are up for grabs I’d say the Pettos have certainly earned one.
Actually*...
...every single they've released since "West End Girls", back in 1985 has hit the top 40, and only three have failed to make the top 20. Also, the least successful of their albums (Nightlife and Release) both made it number 7.
This post is brought to you in association with Wikipedia. So it may all be pure bollo'.
*(see what I did there?)
oh Please...
see what *I* did there...
Wasn't this an intentional Neil Tennant joke?
As in: "Can I have the new Pet Shop Boys album, please? No, I want the new one, Actually."
Probably.
Which would, though I say so myself, be a great name for an album of Pet Shop Boys covers.
Approximate
would be more appropriate.
Not only make Steps cry
but nearly made Pete Waterman explode with indignant rage,
Otherwise I haven't glanced at it since 1996's Britpop meltdown sweary, Jacko baiting edition
The Brits have always been about sales over merit...
... (not that big-selling records can't have merit) but I think that's why the Mercury prize gets so much attention, because like it or not, at least it brings attention to lesser known (and often more interesting) artists.
And though I accept that the Oscars feature many films yet to be released in the UK, at least its roots are in choosing merit over box office success, however many ridiculous decisions the academy has made over the years (and release windows are closing all the time anyway - once digital projection is the norm, it'll be worldwide simultaneous releases for most films.)
I've never had any interest in the Brits, but I will watch this one for the Pet Shop Boys...
Has it only been a year...
... since the live blog? Any plans for a 2009 version?
Cotton
The most worrying thing about that article is the news that Fearne Cotton has a job as a Radio 1 DJ. And here was me thinking she was just an appalling TV music show presenter. Ah well, it helps confirm my resolve to never let Radio 1 darken my dial again...
The nominations are out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7839505.stm
Scouting For Girls are up for best live act. Just shoot me now and get it over with.
Radio 2?!
I heard on the report on the radio that it's to be voted for by Radio 2 listeners! Just how many "Radio 2 listeners" have seen Scouting For Girls live in the last year? It would make a mockery out of the whole thing if someone else hadn't got there first.