Not that I care much either way (I didn't watch the Grammys), but this raises an interesting point, that I think I agree with (for once I agree with a music piece on
Slate):
Shame of the Grammys
A bizarre silence about the Rhode Island nightclub fire.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Monday, February 24, 2003, at 3:45 PM PT
Three days before this year's Grammy Awards ceremony, 97 people died, and 187 people were injured (43 critically), in the deadliest nightclub fire this country has seen in a quarter-century. One of those presumed dead is Ty Longley, a guitarist with Great White, which was playing when the place ("The Station") caught fire. Great White is a heavy-metal band that was fairly popular a dozen years ago. Its cover of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," from the double-platinum album, …Twice Shy, was nominated for a Grammy in 1990. Although the fire was at a small club (capacity: 300) in little West Warwick, R.I. (population: 29,268), it's a huge national story.
Chatterbox recites these familiar facts in order to drive home how astonishing it is that during the entire three-hour Grammy Awards show, not one representative of the music industry requested a moment of silence for, offered remembrance of, or even mentioned the victims of the Rhode Island fire. This appalling fact was noted in the Feb. 24 Toronto Sun by Joe Warmington and, independently, by Walt Mossberg, author of the Wall Street Journal's "Personal Technology" column. Devoted readers of this column will remember that Mossberg is an aficionado of popular music. He shared his exasperation with Chatterbox (who didn't watch the Grammys) in an e-mail, and Chatterbox verified his complaint with others who watched the whole show. The fire victims, Mossberg pointed out, "are the industry's hardest-core music fans, and the band that was performing had been nominated for a Grammy. … How could all those artists and industry execs be so callous and self-absorbed?" Good question. "And people wonder why the music industry is out of touch with music fans."
Incidentally, the Grammy Web site makes no mention of the Rhode Island disaster, either, even in the section of its news page dedicated to "Industry News." Apparently neither Great White, nor The Station, nor its 97 dead customers, has anything to do with the music industry.
― hstencil, Tuesday, 25 February 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)
heh, well yeah, that's true.
― hstencil, Tuesday, 25 February 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)
Hey, does this mean I need to send royalties to the John Cage Estate everytime I spend time with my dad?
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)
Actually, the Cage estate has graciously allowed snippets of up to 23 seconds of silence to be royalty-free. Generous, indeed.
― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 18:01 (twenty-two years ago)
Totally slipped my mind, actually, but it's now stunningly remarkable to me how the event wasn't even addressed.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 18:04 (twenty-two years ago)
I think that's the law, up to 28 seconds of a recording can be played without invoking copywrite wranglings.
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)
"I think that's the law, up to 28 seconds of a recording can be played without invoking copywrite wranglings."
Couldn't you claim to be sampling the same 28 seconds over and over?
On a more serious note, two casual friends from my high school were injured in the fire and one remains in critical condtion. This is after a former student from my high school committed suicide a few weeks earlier.
Rough couple of weeks.
― Jonathan Williams (ex machina), Tuesday, 25 February 2003 18:17 (twenty-two years ago)