Yesterday was International Women's Day, and the entire month of March is Women's History Month. Let's celebrate by listening to Destiny's Child, because they are super awesome.
Are today's boy bands better or worse than the boy bands of the '90s? Buzzfeed has 63 reasons why 90's boy bands like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, 98 Degrees and the like are far superior than One Direction, The Wanted, and Big Time Rush. I won't say one way or the other which way I lean, I'll just let this post about awesome singles released by '90s boy bands speak for itself.
Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys are the best selling boy band of all time (I hope you are imagining Kanye West saying this), with 130 million records sold. I will never get tired of their choreographed dance moves or cheesy love songs because these five boys were my first loves, even though they're all old and married now. BSB released "I Want It That Way" (video at left) in 1999, and it broke the record for most radio station adds in its first week (it had 165). I actually know so much information about them I could write a book. Obscure things, too, like favorite colors. I'll leave now.
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You may remember that last month I posted the first article in our "Most influential of 2012" series. I asked people who write about drumming who they thought was the most influential drummer of 2012.
This time the series focuses on guitarists. Whole lists have been published on this subject, with Rolling Stones' "100 Greatest Guitarists" article perhaps the best known. So we know who the best and most influential guitarists of all time are, but who brought something new to the art in 2012 specifically? That is the question I asked a number of bloggers, and I received a couple great responses.
The first to get back to me was Josh Evitt, a guitar player from Nashville, TN, who writes at Guitar Lifestyle. Evitt told me about a blues-rocker whose impact was really felt last year.
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As a follow-up to yesterday's post about one-person theater shows, this video of a one-person band is pretty impressive.
And OHMYGOSHADORABLE.
Meet 9-month-old baby Rex, who is in the first-ever (probably) one baby band. His dad writes, "[O]ne morning my little (9 month old) guy was looking for some fun, so we set up the camera and let him get his hands on some different equipment. He loves making sounds, and even smiles when he watches the video. I planned this as a series, and we're already coming up with some ideas for PART 2, stay tuned!"
For now, here's Rex, who officially plays more instruments than I do. (I can play a mean hot cross buns on the recorder, though!)
Man, I never get tired of cute videos on the internet.
If you didn’t catch the Grammy awards Sunday — maybe because you were still digging yourself out of mountains of snow, if you live in New England, or maybe because you were watching the long-awaited return of "The Walking Dead" (like me) — don’t stress. Here are some of the highlights:
Performances
Taylor Swift opened the show with visuals reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland." But the thing people really care about is that she supposedly made a jab at her ex-boyfriend, One Direction’s Harry Styles. During the song’s breakdown, she says, “So he calls me up and he’s like, ‘I still love you,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy opening up the Grammys.’” Supposedly, she uses a British accent for the guy’s voice — as you probably know, Harry Styles is British. In addition to Swift, performers included Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake; Mumford and Sons; Alicia Keys and Maroon 5; The Black Keys; Kelly Clarkson; Bruno Mars/Rihanna/Ziggy Marley/Sting (in a Bob Marley tribute); Carrie Underwood; Fun.; Ed Sheeran and Elton John; Frank Ocean… there were a lot of performances, OK?
What people wore
Prior to Sunday’s event, a "Wardrobe Advisory" sent to attendees regarding the evening’s dress code was leaked. The memo asked female celebrities to make sure their bodies were "adequately covered." Obviously what people wear is always a big part of award shows, but all I really care about are two. One, Adele, who always wears black, decided to change it up and rock a red and pink floral dress — and she looked amazing! Also, everyone loves Adele, and she has an adorable accent, and she’s so pretty and talented that she could probably wear a paper bag and people would talk about it. Two, Carrie Underwood wore, like, the prettiest projection screen ever!
Other highlights
Beyonce was there; so was Jennifer Lopez’s leg. Frank Ocean won best urban contemporary album, and Chris Brown didn’t stand for him despite the audience’s standing ovation because the two got into a fight a few weeks back or something. Prince presented Record of the Year. Faith Hill has braces. Rihanna and Chris Brown attended together. Katy Perry wore a revealing dress; Ellen Degeneres appreciated it. And I’m getting old. This is not a highlight of the Grammy’s so much as it’s news to me because, for some of the artists at the show, all I could really muster was a "who?" Soon I’ll probably be telling people to get off my lawn.
What did you think of this year’s Grammy awards?