So I watched The Grammy Awards show and didn't write anything immediately after. I thought about it for a moment, then passed. But it was a fine TV show. There were some good performances. Beyonce was great. Christina was really quite good doing the James Brown song. It was entertaining to watch, but I felt a bit disconnected from the whole thing. I dunno, maybe it was just me. Or perhaps I just don't care about a lot of the current music these days. Maybe it feels too much like a fashion show. But I've certainly seen worse!

 

Tonight is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five - the first of the rap acts inducted. These guys had some substance, and a few things to say - unlike a large portion of the crap that gets shoved down the consumers' collective throats today. REM. Of course. They rock, have had hit record after hit record, and are still together and relevant today. Good for them! The Ronettes - ok, a little sweet for my tastes, but certainly noteworthy. Patty Smith - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... oh, I'm sorry, did I doze off there? Hmmmm - this one I just don't get at all. Except for the fact that I imagine there is an East Coast/New Yorkish contingent on the RRHF committe that pushed her through. Seems all politics on this one - unless you were from New York or went there to see her in the seedy punk clubs, she has no relevance whatsoever. Who gets into the Hall with only one radio song - a Bruce cover at that? I don't wish her ill will, I just don't get it. The English prog-rock line of bands is ignored and she gets in? Geez! And that brings us to Van Halen. Well, ok, I guess. They certainly made an impact. They were damn huge for a while. Eddie popularized his style of guitar playing, and David Lee Roth certainly made a spectical of himself - like him or hate him. Sammy is a much better singer - and a pretty good guy, and none of them will be at the ceremony. Their bass player, I hear, will be there, but he'll be the only one. They wouldn't let DLR sing, so he said, screw 'em.

 

This has been happening at that ceremony, certainly last year and this - some of the people who made the songs, recorded the songs, toured as the band, have not been allowed to play their own stuff. Debbie Harry screwed her original band last year, and this year it will be some all-star config playing Van Halen songs. Geez - I could go to the nearest hotel bar and hear that........

 

As for our band...... it seems everyone is going in their own directions right now. Without management, or even an advocate, pretty much nothing is happening. I've been in my studio playing with some new ideas. Don't know that it's going to be music for this band, though. Don't know yet exactly what it will turn into, other than something new. I'm craving new and fresh now. Something that isn't bogged down with a bunch of old and funky karma. Something that has new, fresh, positive energy. Music without expectations, or for some people, desperation. I have no illusions. I've played and made music all my life because I love music. The chances, anymore, of having a hit record are probably about as good as chances of any of us winning the Mega Millions lottery. But I don't care - that isn't and never has been what motivates me to play music. The reward is the music itself -all along the way. The new riff, the new key. The new lyric, the new mix. The new emotion that a song evokes. It feels good. And if it feels good to me, then there will be at least a certain number of others who I can share it with for their enjoyment, too. That's the reason to create music. It's about the feelings it can bring to you and me. It's about how it makes us feel inside. That's where the truth is.