Norm's Grammy Picks For 2006

Hey Soul Mates,
I'm super-excited because tonight is Grammy night and the evening should be historic. I may breakdown if Sly Stone actually shows up to perform during a tribute to his musical genius. The man has not performed for a public audience that I know of in over 20 years. Sly is the greatest enigma pop music has known . I would consider him to be one of its 10 greatest writers. Everyday People, Stand, Everybody Is A Star, Thank You (Fallentime Be Mice Elf, Again), Hot Fun In The Summertime and Family Affair are all pop masterpieces. And I didn't even mention I Want To Take You Higher and Dance To The Music. His appearance should be the highlight of the night. But wait there's more.

I wrote about Gorillaz a blog or two back. McCartney and U2 are also performing. Finally, the Grammy's might live up to the hype. The only glaring performance omission for me is the White Stripes, who for my money made the year's most daring album. Of course, Mariah, ahhhhhhh, Mariah made the most listenable disc of '05 and she's is performing. This should be Kanye West's night. But there are plenty of other deserving artists (upstarts & veterans) who should take home hardware.

Well, here's my handicapping for the night's festivities. I've made picks (the highlighted ones) in select categories, including the BIG TICKET prizes. These are not always who I think will win, but also who I'd like to see win. Remember these suggestions are for entertainment purposes only, no wagering please. Tune in on your local CBS station at 8 pm.

Here we go:
Record Of The Year. Possibly, the strongest this category has ever been. Two of the best singles of the new millenium mano a mano: Carey v. Kanye.
We Belong Together - Mariah Carey
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz Featuring De La Soul
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
Gold Digger - Kanye West

Album Of The Year. Kanye will win, but Mariah's my girl. If you follow my blog, you know why I prefer "Emancipation". Perhaps it's sour grapes for the White Stripes' omission in this category.
The Emancipation Of Mimi - Mariah Carey
Chaos And Creation In The Backyard - Paul McCartney
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. - Gwen Stefani
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb -U2
Late Registration - Kanye West

Song Of The Year. Simply one of most honest singles in years. U2 and Mariah are not bad choices, either.
Bless The Broken Road - Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna & Marcus Hummon, songwriters (Rascal Flatts)
Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)
Ordinary People - W. Adams & J. Stephens, songwriters (John Legend)
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2, songwriters (U2)
We Belong Together - J. Austin, M. Carey, J. Dupri & M. Seal, songwriters; (D. Bristol, K. Edmonds, S. Johnson, P. Moten, S. Sully & B. Womack, songwriters) (Mariah Carey)

Best New Artist. The only real no-brainer for the night.
Ciara
Fall Out Boy
Keane
John Legend
SugarLand

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It's a stronger vocal than Mariah's. Believe it.
It's Like That - Mariah Carey
Since U Been - Gone Kelly Clarkson
Good Is Good - Sheryl Crow
I Will Not Be Broken - Bonnie Raitt
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing - Jack Johnson
Fine Line - Paul McCartney
Walk On By - Seal
Lonely No More - Rob Thomas
From The Bottom Of My Heart - Stevie Wonder

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Have you seen the video for My Doorbell? The category alone is hysterical. The White Stripes. Pop? You bet.
Don't Lie - The Black Eyed Peas
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
More Than Love -Los Lonely Boys
This Love - Maroon 5
My Doorbell - The White Stripes

Best Pop Vocal Album. It's overdue and he won't win the big one.
Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
Wildflower - Sheryl Crow
Chaos And Creation In The Backyard - Paul McCartney
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. - Gwen Stefani

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Sorry. U2 do not "rock" on that song.
Speed Of Sound - Coldplay
Best Of You - Foo Fighters
Do You Want To - Franz Ferdinand
All These Things That I've Done - The Killers
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2

Best Rock Album. No, really. The Stones have earned this one.
X&Y - Coldplay
In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
A Bigger Bang - The Rolling Stones
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
Prairie Wind - Neil Young

Best Alternative Music Album
Funeral - The Arcade Fire
Guero - Beck
Plans - Death Cab For Cutie
You Could Have It So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
1 Thing - Amerie
Wishing On A Star - Beyonce
We Belong Together - Mariah Carey
Free Yourself - Fantasia
Unbreakable - Alicia Keys

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. A tie here. Both are super performances.
Creepin' - Jamie Foxx
Ordinary People - John Legend
Let Me Love You - Mario
Superstar- Usher
So What The Fuss - Stevie Wonder

Best Urban/Alternative Performance. This will be our category next year!
SupaStar - Floetry
Dirty Harry - Gorillaz
Dust - Van Hunt
Welcome To Jamrock - Damian Marley
Ghetto Rock - Mos Def

Best R&B Album. A battle royale between old school titans and new school wunderkinds.
Illumination - Earth, Wind And Fire
Free Yourself - Fantasia
Unplugged - Alicia Keys
Get Lifted - John Legend
A Time To Love - Stevie Wonder

Best Contemporary R&B Album. What will she be not wearing by the time she collects this?
Touch - Amerie
The Emancipation Of Mimi - Mariah Carey
Destiny Fulfilled - Destiny's Child
Turning Point - Mario
O - Omarion

Best Rap Solo Performance. This should have been in the collabo category with a co-nod for Jamie Foxx.
Testify - Common
Mockingbird - Eminem
Disco Inferno - 50 Cent
Number One - Spot Ludacris
U Don't Know Me - T.I.
Gold Digger - Kanye West

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. I'll take a dirty South flyer, tho' the populist BEP will win.
Don't Phunk With My Heart - The Black Eyed Peas
The Corner - Common Featuring The Last Poets
Encore - Eminem Featuring Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
Hate It Or Love It - The Game Featuring 50 Cent
Wait (The Whisper Song) - Ying Yang Twins

Best Rap Album. Strong category, but... duh.
Be - Common
The Cookbook - Missy Elliott
Encore - Eminem
The Massacre - 50 Cent
Late Registration - Kanye West

So we'll see how we all do with our picks. I hope at least to be entertained by the show. We'll see you on the air in '07. My prediction, 5 nominations for Rush Hour Soul.

Love, Power, Peace

I Say It's My Birthday/Tour Announcement

Hey Soul Mates,
Happy Birthday to us! My Mother says "Happy Birthday to me." And of course, I got a B-Day call from Dad in Atlanta. My brother Nate is working the Coretta Scott King funeral. And thanks to Doug for checking in (really early, ha ha). It's been a really pleasant day so far. Coffee on the house at Marie et Cie. (merci, Charles) this a.m. And normally, I do not advertise my birthday at all. But today is an exception, because (drum roll)...

Our big news? Here it is. We are taking our act overseas for a tour. Rush Hour Soul is going across the pond to the United Kingdom! First, we've been invited to perform at the International Pop Overthrow Music Festival in Liverpool in May. There will be two performances in Liverpool. One of our dates will be at the world famous Cavern Club (of Beatles fame). Second, we will follow that up by booking independent shows in other cities. Times and dates to be confirmed. Special thanks to IPO 2006 and founder David Bash.

If any of you know bookers or clubs to recommend in the UK that would be interested in having us, please tell us. If you are in a British band and would like to trade shows with us here in Los Angeles, also, let us know. All assistance is greatly appreciated. We are very excited about touring overseas and hope that all of our fans in Great Britain will make it to the shows.

We will be raising funds here in the US and it should be fun. There will be lots of expenses involved. We want all of you to "participate" in the tour. Many details are to follow. Your support will be crucial. We have some peers who have gone to the UK recently with great success and we want to trample their footsteps. We hope that you are as ecstatic as we are!

And for all you haters out there: the Rolling Stones kicked butt last night at the Super Bowl half-time show. They ripped it up with their new song "Rough Justice" which was one of my 10 favorite songs on 2005.
Cheerio.

Love, Power, Peace

Bus Spotting

Hey Soul Mates,
it's Super Bowl Sunday. XL. Detroit City. And I was at the last Super Bowl in Motown. And it was freezing. The game was great though. That was Joe Montana's super-debut. Today, I'm going to be rooting for the Bus and the Steelers. But I was told to give up any kind of monetary gambling by the fortune teller last week, so none of you can have my money on this one. "One For The Thumb" since '81 for Pittsburgh. Now, I've always like Seattle's uniforms and the Seahawk logo, but I've gotta go with the Steelers.

Grammy awards on Wednesday. I'm pretty excited. McCartney's performing. Gorillaz, too - though it's sad that they are performing with Madonna. Maybe she'll prove me wrong, but she's played out for me. I've got "Demon Days" playing right now and it's a tremendously adventurous LP. The title track is on. Demon Days is at the end of the record, but what a great album closer with a choral vocal unlike the rest of the hip-hop/dub influenced disc.

Oh, and tomorrow is my birthday, and my gift to you all will be our BIG NEWS about the upcoming Rush Hour Soul tour.

Love, Power, Peace and Pittsburgh by 10.