Another blog about the Brits

Hi there.

I was on 9:30 to 5:30 shift last week, so I had hardly any time to myself, sorry for not being in touch with you guys out there in the blogosphere. I was going to talk about David Cameron, and how boring the supposed drugs story is, compared to the story about his party tapping up Lib Dem MP’s, to try and see if they will defect to the Conservatives. I might blog about this later on.

I am going to write again about the lovely Brit awards, which occur on Wednesday night. We produce fantastic music in this country. We produce great, if slightly derivative, guitar music. We used to produce great dance records, and… er that’s it really. My problem with the Brits is that it is too corporate. Not sometimes, all the time! Remembering of course that the Brits started out in life with the naff moniker of the British Phonographic Industry Awards (then shortened to the BPI awards).

During these years, the awards somehow evaded the great bands of the era, The Smiths, New Order, Depeche Mode, were all overlooked in favour of Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits and all the other corporate big sellers from the big record companies. Indeed the year that Factory paid subscription fees to join the BPI was the year that New Order won their only award, Best Video for True Faith. The following year, “indie” band Erasure won one of the blue riband awards, Best British Band.

Despite the voting procedures changing in the early 1990’s (at the insistence, on of all people, of Jonathan King) the ceremony still retains an element of the naff. Nowhere does it still get it so badly wrong as the Best British Single award, the revised nominees are…

The Feeling - Fill My Little World, Razorlight - America, Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars, Take That - Patience, Will Young - All Time Love

Actually, looking at it again, it’s an OK shortlist. I prefer “In The Morning” to “America”. That “Chasing Cars” record is till there though. Nothing from Muse though, either “Supermasive Black Hole” or “Starlight” should be there. There aren’t any Hot Chip either, especially as Over and Over must be one of the records of the year. Still, there is potential for the monstrosity of years gone by. Like the year that either Franz Ferdinand or the Streets should have won it (for “Take Me Out” or “Dry Your Eyes”) but lost out to Will Young, or the many years in the 1990’ where this prize was won by boy bands.

I will try and preview it in the next couple of days, till then see you later