Grammy nominations, snubs & surprises
Today's Grammy Awards' announcement is both full of surprises and snubs, which is pretty much par for the record-industry course.
As expected Kanye West leads the way with 8 nominations, including Album of the Year. It's no shock, either, that Amy Winehouse's universally acclaimed and surprise bestseller "Back to Black" also helped her earn six big nominations.
Those two figure to slug it out in the Album of the Year category. Also contending: Foo Fighters, Vince Gill, and -- the dark horse -- Herbie Hancock, an industry veteran and favorite.
Nice to see Gill earn a bid for his ambitious, four-CD set. The shock: Grammy decided to snub such veterans as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Paul McCartney in the big categories -- song, record, and album of the year. Springsteen earned a rare 5-star review from Rolling Stone, and still has never won an Album of the Year award.
Usually, at least one rock album makes the grade and this year voters opted for Foo Fighters over McCartney, Springsteen, White Stripes, John Fogerty, Maroon 5, Daughtry, and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration which has been a surprise hit.
Also snubbed in the big categories: Fergie and Akon, who both racked up a ton of hits.
Wilco scored a Rock Album nomination -- instead of Alternative -- for "Sky Blue Sky," which is sweet and deserved. But it's up against Fogerty, Foo Fighters, Sprignsteen, and probable winner Daughtry -- the latter sold the most CDs.
Grammy's choices for Alternative Album are hard to argue with: Arcade Fire, Bjork, the White Stripes, the Shins, and Lily Allen. On buzz alone, Arcade Fire figures to win this one though I think there is also a lot of love out there for the Shins.
Plain White T's earned a surprise nod for "Hey There Delilah" in the Song of the Year category, though it's probably not going to win. "Before He Cheats" and "Umbrella" may duke it out for that, along with "Rehab."
Grammy got lazy in the Best Rock Perforomance by a Duo or Group category, nominating Green Day and U2 for their John Lennon covers.
But give Grammy a hand for nominating Tom Waits and Patty Griffin for contemporary folk/Americana album, and it's cool to see Erie favorite Terrence Simien score a Grammy nom in the zydeco/cajun music category.
Similarly, the best traditional folk category includes such notables as Levon Helm, Charlie Louvin, and Peter Case.
Song of the Year figure to feature heated competition between "Rehab," Rihanna's "