(Fun Fact: The guitar parts from Bowie's 1983 classic "Let's Dance" and other tracks from that album were actually recorded by late blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan)
But without question the best performance of the night was Kendrick Lamar, who did a medley of "The Blacker The Berry", "Alright" and a freestyle that was centered around the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin. The imagery with Lamar walking at the front of a chain gang line and eventually onto the side stage with a traditional African bonfire and drum circle behind him was powerful enough to get across an important message, but still entertaining enough for some people to not feel "Uncomfortable", if you know what I mean.
Really, when you break it down, everyone's live performance was well done and entertaining. The only two exceptions would have to be Justin Bieber's abstract collaboration with Skrillex & Diplo and the television debut of the Hollywood Vampires, a "shit-show mash-up" "super-group" consisting of Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and... Johnny Depp? I don't know how this trio came together (The band was rounded out by long-time Cooper guitarist Tommy Henriksen and the Guns 'n' Roses rhythm section duo of Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum) but these vampires definitely need to be shown the daylight. Their cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" was awful and Lemmy certainly deserved a better tribute than some hodgepodge garbage jam band.
Even with that Metal Abortion and the absurdity that was Taylor Swift winning Album of the Year (You won't convince me that "1989" was a better album than "To Pimp a Butterfly" AND "Beauty Behind The Madness", because it simply wasn't) This year's Grammys were by far the best award show we've seen in a long, long time.
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The Three Television Shows You Need To Be Watching Right Now
While it's always a bittersweet moment as the calendar turns into February and once the Super Bowl ends, you realize it will be around another 28 weeks before we see a live Football game on a Sunday. But one of the positives that emerge from a lack of pigskin viewing (other than having more time to recover from Saturday night parties) is that I have time to watch some Non-Sports Programming, even if only for a few hours a week. I'm super picky with what series I start to watch because I only have so much time to follow a few shows a year, and surprisingly, there are at least 6 shows that I am either currently watching or planning to watch in the next several months. Here are 3 new shows that I am watching right now that you need to watch as well:
1. "Billions", airs Sunday nights 10p ET/9p CT on Showtime.
This Power-Drama is centered in New York around Hedge Fund Billionaire Bobby Axelrod (played by Damian Lewis) who's power moves on Wall Street are being closely watched by U.S Attorney Chuck Rhoads (Paul Giamatti). This show is filled with great one-liners, double-crosses and some shockingly steamy sex scenes. It might be a bit hard to follow at times for those who haven't a clue how the stock market or hedge funds work, but it's nonetheless an entertaining hour of drama and suspense.
2. "Vinyl", airs Sunday nights 9pm ET/8pm CT on HBO
This show debuted this past weekend. Written by two legendary figures in director Martin Scorsese and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, this show is about the Music scene in 1973 New York City from the eyes of record exec Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) who's trying to save his company, American Century during a big shifting change of music styles all over the nation. A lot of the characters and scenes are based on true events and for music buffs like myself, this show is a really fun watch. It reminds me a lot of Mad Men, not only because the show is set in NYC and it basically picks up chronologically where the classic Ad drama leaves off, but the power tree of the workers at American Century and how they maneuver is very similar of how things operated at Sterling Cooper & Partners, except the Canadian Rye and Lucky Strike Cigarettes are replaced with Bolivian Marching Powder and Lemmon 714 Quaaludes (both seeming to be consistent staples in Scorsese works over the years)
3. "American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson", airs Tuesday nights 10p ET/9pm CT on FX
We head out to the West Coast circa 1994 as the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson & Ron Goldman, and the subsequent mega-trial of former NFL running back O.J. Simpson are highlighted in this 10 part series. This wonderful All-Star cast features Cuba Gooding Jr. as "The Juice", John Travolta as his lead counsel Ron Shapiro, and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian (and yes, we see younger versions of his now infamous ex-wife and children in a few episodes). Despite being very young when this all really took place, I remember my folks being super interested in this whole debacle, so the nostalgia factor for me is pretty high, but even if you weren't alive for this historic event, this show is definitely worth viewing.
