grammy
Page: 3
On the Billboard 200 chart (dated Feb. 18), 35 albums post unit gains thanks to either performances, presentations or on-air wins during the CBS-TV broadcast of the 2023 Grammy Awards (Feb. 5).
Leading the way at the top of the chart is presenter SZA, whose SOS album reclaims the No. 1 slot with 100,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 9 (up less than 1%), according to Luminate. SZA presented the best música urbana album category during the ceremony, which was won by Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (8-7 with 45,000 units; up 16%). Bad Bunny also opened the show with a medley of two songs from the album.
Also in the top 10 is Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which took home a pair of awards on the CBS broadcast (pop vocal album, album of the year). It jumps 13-9 with 38,000 equivalent album units (up 51%). Styles also performed the album’s lead single “As It Was” on the show.
Other notables among the 35 Grammy-boosted titles on the Billboard 200 include: Beyoncé’s Renaissance (climbing 24-11 with 37,000 equivalent album units; up 109%), Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights (70-46 with 14,000; up 16%), Lizzo’s Special (194-89 with 11,000; up 52%), Adele’s 30 (134-93 with 11,000; up 25%) and Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile (a debut at No. 158 with 8,000; up 319%). On the CBS broadcast, Renaissance won best dance/electronic album, Lacy performed the Gemini Rights hit (and nominated track) “Bad Habit,” Lizzo won record of the year for the Special single “About Damn Time” and performed a medley of “About” and the album’s title track, Adele won best pop solo performance for the 30 single “Easy On Me” and Samara Joy won best new artist.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Feb. 18, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 14. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Here are the rest of the Grammy gainers on the Billboard 200:
Performer Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me (12-13 with 27,000 equivalent album units; up 1%) and My Turn (22-21 with 19,000; up 6%); performer Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up (19-19 with 20,000; up 6%), This One’s for You (36-34 with 16,000; up 5%) and What You See Is What You Get (44-38 with 15,000; up 4%); SZA’s Ctrl (20-22 with 19,000; up 1%), presenter Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (23-23 with 18,000; up 2%), winner Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city (27-24 with 18,000; up 6%), DAMN. (42-30 with 16,000; up 11%), Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (59-39 with 15,000; up 20%) and To Pimp a Butterfly (a re-entry at No. 168 with 8,000; up 26%). Mr. Morale won best rap album during the CBS broadcast, and Lamar was on-hand to accept the trophy.
Mick Fleetwood took part in the CBS broadcast, performing Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” in tribute to its late songwriter, his former Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie. (He joined Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt in the performance.) Fleetwood Mac sees its Rumours album (which includes the original version of “Songbird”) rise 29-26 (17,000 equivalent album units earned; up 4%) and Greatest Hits climb 198-189 (8,000; up 5%).
Performer Chris Stapleton’s Traveller (66-61 with 12,000; up 4%) and Starting Over (113-100 with 11,000; up 7%); Styles’ Fine Line (68-48 with 14,000; up 15%) and his self-titled debut (190-161 with 8,000; up 11%); Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG (98-73 with 12,000; up 11%) and El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (a re-entry at No. 187 with 8,000; up 8%); performer Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2 (94-87 with 11,000; up 4%) and Eternal Atake (126-124 with 10,000; up 2%) and Quavo and Takeoff’s Only Built for Infinity Links (103-109 with 10,000; up less than 1%). Quavo performed during the In Memoriam segment in tribute to the late Takeoff.
Rounding out the Grammy gainers on the Billboard 200 are winner Adele’s 21 (162-141 with 9,000 equivalent album units; up 10%) and 25 (192-156 with 8,000; up 14%), winner Dr. Dre’s Dr. Dre – 2001 (149-142 with 9,000; up 4%), performer Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III (163-151 with 9,000; up 8%) and performer and winner Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (164-157 with 8,000; up 5%).
Samara Joy shakes up Billboard’s charts, as the Grammy Award winner for best new artist hits No. 1 on Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums and Heatseekers Albums for the first time (all on the lists dated Feb. 18) with Linger Awhile. The set, which was released last September, also reaches the top 10 of the Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales charts, while additionally debuting on the Billboard 200.
All charts dated Feb. 18 will be posted to Billboard.com on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
The 23-year-old Joy was presented the best new artist trophy during the CBS-TV broadcast of the main ceremony of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, while she also won another Grammy that day, for best jazz vocal album for Linger Awhile. (That award was presented during the non-televised Premiere Ceremony that streamed live on the Grammy.com website.)
Linger Awhile earned 8,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 9 (up 319%), according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 6,500 (up 316%). Linger Awhile tallies the largest week, by both units and album sales, for any non-holiday non-reissue jazz album in over a year – since Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s Love for Sale earned 12,000 units (of which nearly all were album sales) on the chart dated Jan. 1, 2022.
Linger Awhile jumps 3-1 on Jazz Albums, 2-1 on Traditional Jazz Albums and 35-1 on Heatseekers Albums. On the Billboard 200, the title debuts at No. 158. On Top Album Sales, Linger Awhile vaults 87-5, while on Top Current Album Sales it bolts 42-5.
Meanwhile, Joy’s self-titled debut effort, released in 2021, debuts on Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums at No. 7 (1,500 equivalent album units earned; up 362%). With Linger Awhile and the self-titled album concurrently in the top 10 on both charts, Joy is the first woman with two concurrent top 10 albums on both lists since the Jan. 8, 2022-dated list, when Ella Fitzgerald held a pair in each top 10.
Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums and Heatseekers Albums rank the week’s most popular jazz albums, traditional jazz albums and new and developing artists’ albums by equivalent album units, respectively. The Billboard 200 is an all-genre chart, ranking the week’s most popular albums by units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales rank the week’s top-selling overall albums (both current and older, catalog titles) and current albums, by traditional album sales.
Burt Bacharach, who died on Wednesday (Feb. 8) at age 94, was one of America’s finest composers and arrangers. He most deservedly won a lot of awards over the years, and just missed out on a couple of others.
Bacharach won six Grammys, three Oscars and an Emmy. He and his long-time collaborator Hal David were nominated for a Tony for best musical in 1970 for the musical comedy Promises, Promises, on which they teamed with playwright Neil Simon. Promises, Promises was nominated in that category the same year as the smash Hair, which brought rock rhythms (and full-frontal nudity) to Broadway. Surprisingly, neither of these shows won. The award went to 1776, also a long-running hit, but one that is less well-remembered today.
If Promises, Promises had won, Bacharach would have become an EGOT the following year when he won a Primetime Emmy for his special Singer Presents Burt Bacharach. That would have made Bacharach just the second person to achieve the EGOT, following Richard Rodgers, who completed the sweep of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards in 1962.
Another miss: Bacharach never received the Kennedy Center Honors. True, he and David received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, but many others have received both awards. It’s the Kennedy Center’s loss: Bacharach would have added luster to their roster of recipients.
Fortunately, Bacharach achieved so many awards feats that we don’t need to dwell on the shoulda-woulda-couldas. He had a 58-year span of Grammy nominations, from 1963 (a song of the year nod for the suave, if sexist, “Wives and Lovers”) to 2021 (a nod for best musical theater album for Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater’s Some Lovers).
Here are 11 times Burt Bacharach made awards show history.
The 2023 Grammy Awards (Feb. 5) helped push major sales and streaming gains for winners such as Brandi Carlile, Samara Joy and Bonnie Raitt, among others, in the wake of the 65th annual show.
It’s expected that the weekly Billboard charts dated Feb. 18, which reflect the sales and streaming tracking week ending Feb. 9, will feature a number of titles that post gains thanks to exposure earned from Grammys. News on such gains is scheduled to be reported as early as Feb. 12 on Billboard.com.
Generally speaking, those songs and albums that saw the most eye-catching gains immediately following the Grammy Awards are those that had a lower-profile than the more well-known hits that have been chart hits for months. Essentially, those songs and albums (and artists) that were unfamiliar to the audience watching at home and online had much more room to grown than a well-known hit.
The Grammy Awards aired live on CBS-TV, and was also streamed on Paramount+ and CBS.com. Earlier in the day on Feb. 5, previous to the Grammy Awards, the bulk of the 91 Grammy Awards were presented during the Premiere Ceremony, which streamed live on Grammy.com.
All data comparisons below are for Feb. 5-6 (the day of the show and the day after) versus the two days prior, Feb. 3-4, in the U.S., according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate.
Carlile’s “Broken Horses,” which she performed on the Grammy Awards, garnered a 379% gain in on-demand official U.S. streams on Feb. 5-6 as compared to Feb. 3-4. On Feb. 5-6, the track captured 130,000 streams – up from 27,000 in the two days prior. Further, “Broken” logged a 9,273% increase in track sales, rising to 1,500 sold on Feb. 5-6 (up from a negligible sum on Feb. 3-4).
“Broken Horses” won two Grammy Awards — for best rock performance and best rock song. Both trophies were presented during the Premiere Ceremony.
Samara Joy – who won best new artist (presented during the Grammy Awards on CBS) and best jazz vocal album (for Linger Awhile, presented during the Premiere Ceremony) – saw robust gains for Linger Awhile. The album earned nearly 4,000 equivalent album units on Feb. 5-6 in the U.S. (up 675% compared to about 500 in the two days prior).
Of the Feb. 5-6 unit sum for Linger Awhile, traditional album sales comprised a little over 3,000 (up 775% compared to the under 500 sales it generated on Feb. 3-4). The album’s collected songs generated 900,000 on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 381% compared to the 187,000 they earned on Feb. 3-4).
Linger Awhile has so far peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s overall Jazz Albums chart and No. 2 on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart. The album has yet to reach the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” – which won song of the year – snared a 3,387% increase in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6, rising to 777,000 (up from 23,000 in the two days prior). In terms of track sales, the song sold 6,000 on Feb. 5-6 (up 8,001% compared to the negligible sum it sold on Feb. 3-4). “Just Like That” also won the Grammy for American Roots Song, which was presented during the Premiere Ceremony.
Raitt additionally performed on the CBS broadcast, but didn’t sing her own song – she sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” as part of the In Memoriam segment, in tribute to the late Christine McVie (the writer and vocalist of the original version of “Songbird”).
It’s likely that most viewers watching the CBS broadcast of the show learned about “Just Like That” for the first time, as the song has yet to chart on any U.S. Billboard song chart. Its parent album of the same name spent one week on the Billboard 200, debuting and peaking at No. 44 on the May 2, 2022-dated chart.
The Just Like That album earned nearly 3,500 equivalent album units on Feb. 5-6 (up 1,283% compared to the negligible sum it earned on Feb. 3-4). Of that sum, traditional album sales comprised 2,000 (up 1,021% compared to the negligible sales it had on Feb. 3-4). Finally, the Just Like That album saw its collected songs garner 1.1 million on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 1,504% compared to the 69,000 it collected on Feb. 3-4).
Others who saw notable gains include Lizzo’s record of the year-winning “About Damn Time,” DJ Khaled’s “God Did” (a nominee and performed song), Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Harry’s House (the former was performed and nominated for multiple awards, while the latter won album of the year), Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (winner of best pop duo/group performance, and it was performed) and Beyoncé’s Renaissance (winner of best dance/electronic album).
“About Damn Time” logged a 9% gain in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 1.56 million), and posted a 590% sales increase (selling 3,000; up from less than 500 in the two previous days). “About Damn Time” was performed in a medley on the CBS show by Lizzo, along with “Special.” The latter song collected 251,000 on-demand streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 36%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 1,264%).
DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” which was the closing performance of the CBS show, scored 489,000 on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 59%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 2,000%).
“As It Was,” which was a nominee and a performed song on the CBS-TV broadcast, nabbed a 17% gain in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 3.21 million), and a 593% sales gain (climbing to 4,000 sold).
Harry’s House, which won album of the year and best pop vocal album (both of which were presented during the CBS show), collected a 55% increase in equivalent album units earned (12,000 on Feb. 5-6), of which 3,000 were in traditional album sales (up 115%). The album’s songs generated 11 million on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 35%).
“Unholy,” which won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance and was performed on the CBS show, posted a 493% gain in sales on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 5,000 sold; up from 1,000 in the two previous days). In terms of on-demand official streams, it notched a 4% gain, rising to 4.58 million (up from 4.39 million). “Unholy” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 last October – the first for both Smith and Petras – and has been a fixture in the top 10 of the chart each week since mid-November.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance, which won best dance/electronic album (presented during the CBS show), nabbed a 124% gain in traditional album sales (rising to 2,000 sold on Feb. 5-6) while its collected songs generated 8.6 million on-demand official streams (up 18%).
While many on the Christian right were left clutching their pearls following Sam Smith and Kim Petras‘ supposedly “satanic” performance at the 2023 Grammys, one organization closely familiar with the subject matter found it a bit boring.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In an interview with TMZ, David Harris, a magister of the Church of Satan, said he thought Smith and Petras’ performance was “all right” and “nothing particularly special.” In the performance, Smith sported a red leather outfit with horns sprouting from a top hat, while Petras danced in a cage surrounded by fire and backup dancers dressed as devils.
However, when it came to the real-life people who were offended by the performance — especially public officials like Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene — Harris called them “delicate snowflakes,” while also turning their own criticism back on them. “It’s sad when politicians on a national stage use someone’s religion as a punchline,” he said.
Harris’ comments came after a wave of criticism for both Smith and Petras online following their performance. Cruz called the number “evil,” while Greene said the production was “demonic.”
Petras spoke a bit more about the performance after making history as the first transgender woman to win in the best pop duo/group performance category, arguing that those getting upset about it were also the ones who directly inspired it. “It’s a take on not being able to choose religion, and not being able to live the way that people might want you to live,” she said. “I think a lot of people have labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as ‘religiously not cool.’ I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it, but then slowly realizing it doesn’t want me to be a part of it.”
Check out Petras’ acceptance speech for the award below:
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty
Even though her star is rising GloRilla is still living in the moment. She recently met Beyoncé and it was a fangirl moment of the ages.
As spotted on Madame Noire the Memphis, Tennessee native attended the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Throughout the evening she was seen meeting and greeting her peers and idols for the first time. In a chance occasion she met Queen B and it was clear any of her ego was immediately dropped. The two quickly hugged and Glo told her “I love you so much.” She videotaped the brief interaction with her phone and posted the clip to her social media channels. “I met Beyoncé bye !!!!!!! My life is COMPLETE” her caption read.
Related Stories
Obviously meeting the legendary songstress was a big deal to her. She later went on Facebook to further express her excitement regarding the chance meeting. “I’m finna get my 15 second conversation with Beyoncé tatted !!!!!!ahhhhhhh I’m still not over it” she wrote. She also changed her profile picture to a photo of the two ladies.
Gushing over Beyoncé should not be a surprise to Glo’s core fanbase. In the past she has made it clear the Destiny’s Child member would be a dream collaboration for her. “There’s a lot of people I want to do songs with that I’m a fan of,” she said in an interview with Grammy.com. “But my top two that I’m extremely obsessed with is Beyoncé and Chief Keef. I want to work with Drake and Lil Wayne, too.”
You can view the meet up below.
Photo:
If the all-star salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop on the 65th annual Grammy Awards left you wanting more, the Grammys have more on the way. A two-hour, Grammy-branded special will tape on Aug. 11, which is the 50th anniversary (to the day!) of a back-to-school party in The Bronx that many point to as the beginning of hip-hop culture. CBS will broadcast the special later this year.
Questlove, who curated the 15-minute spot on Sunday’s Grammy telecast, will have a role in the special, though his exact title is to be determined. Jesse Collins, an executive producer of the Grammy telecast, will produce the special.
While many will assume that the success of the spot on the Grammy telecast led CBS to hurry a special into production, the special was in the works before anyone knew there would be a segment on the telecast, according to a source.
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, hinted at the upcoming special in a statement announcing the telecast segment. “For five decades, Hip Hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” he said. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our year-long celebration of this essential genre of music.” Questlove has mentioned the upcoming special in his post-Grammy tweets. Talking about why certain artists were booked for the hip-hop tribute and others weren’t, he tweeted:
or we made a decision to wait for the 2 hour August taping— Dr. Love (@questlove) February 6, 2023
The hip-hop segment on the Grammy telecast, which featured three dozen rap acts, drew universal praise. Billboard’s Joe Lynch pegged it as the best performance on the telecast. “While it’s an impossible task to sum up 50 years of any genre (much less one that fought for decades to get a modicum of mainstream respect and eventually became the dominant genre in American music), this electrifying medley brought to vivid life the charged personalities, thumping grooves, deft deliveries and unpredictable flourishes that make hip-hop a global force.”
The segment was produced by Questlove, Collins, Patrick Menton of Fulwell 73, creative producer Fatima Robinson and Shawn Gee, Questlove’s manager and president of LNU. The segment is part of Paramount Global’s companywide initiative to honor the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
The Grammys have not always been hip-hop supporters. The Grammys didn’t have a dedicated category for rap or hip-hop until the 1988 awards, which were presented on Feb. 22, 1989. D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s genial pop hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand” was the first hip-hop recording to win a Grammy (best rap performance). But they weren’t invited to perform on the show that year.
A year later, on Feb. 21, 1990, the duo became the first hip-hop act to perform on the Grammys. “We’d like to dedicate this performance to all the rappers last year that stood with us and helped us to earn the right to be on this stage tonight,” Will Smith said before he and D.J. Jazzy Jeff launched into “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson.”
Both Questlove and Collins are coming off major honors for their work. Questlove won both an Oscar (his first) and a Grammy (his sixth) in 2022 for directing the documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Collins won his first Primetime Emmy in 2022 as an executive producer of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, which was voted outstanding variety special (live).
CBS, which has broadcast the Grammy telecast since 1973, will air a second Grammy-branded special this year – A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys. The special, the latest in a series of “Grammy Salute” specials, will be taped on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The Beach Boys and hip-hop are in very different musical worlds, of course, but it’s worth noting that the Beach Boys had a sizable hit in 1987 (No. 12 hit on the Hot 100) with a collab with the Brooklyn rap trio Fat Boys. The two groups teamed for a remake of The Surfaris’ 1963 classic “Wipeout.”
The fact that a quintessential American vocal group teamed with a rap group 36 years ago is more evidence, as if any more were needed, of hip-hop’s reach and endurance.
Beyoncé made history at the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday, becoming the first person ever to win 32 of the Recording Academy’s shiny gramophones. But just one of those 32 awards has come in a Big Four category (album, record and song of the year plus best new artist). It happened on the 2010 telecast, when Bey won song of the year for co-writing her dance smash “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
Beyoncé has been nominated in Big Four categories 18 times. That means she’s had to politely smile as someone else walked up to accept a Big Four award that she was nominated for 17 times. In 2017, she famously lost the three top awards to Adele. In 2001, she and her Destiny’s Child colleagues lost two of the top three awards to U2. In 2021, two of her singles lost to a Billie Eilish hit.
It’s hard to feel too sorry for an artist who has won more Grammys than Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Prince and Elton John combined. And yet, the fact that Beyoncé has a 1-17 track record in the Big Four categories – which are by far the most closely watched and prestigious – is galling to the Beyhive, and to many others who believe it shows that Beyoncé (and Black artists in general) are undervalued by the Academy.
That said, she has twice lost to other Black artists in Big Four categories. Two years ago, “Black Parade” lost song of the year to H.E.R.’s BLM anthem “I Can’t Breathe.” This year, “Break My Soul” lost record of the year to Lizzo’s jubilant “About Damn Time.”
Here’s a closer look at every time Beyoncé was nominated in a Big Four category. The dates shown are the dates of that year’s Grammy telecast.
It’s officially a wrap on all the festivities surrounding music’s biggest night.
The 65th annual Grammy Awards took place on Sunday night from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, and the ceremony itself — chock-full of showstopping performances, including Bad Bunny’s shimmy-worthy mambo and merengue fusion of “El Apagon” and “Después de la Playa,” a hits-filled medley with the biggest names in hip-hop over the past 50 years, and a team-up between Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Chris Stapleton to pay tribute to Motown — concluded with several surprises before its famous attendees jetted off to star-studded afterparties.
Samara Joy won best new artist and best jazz vocal album for her 2022 sophomore effort Linger Awhile. Naturally, the New York City native was all smiles when it came time to party, showing up at the Universal Music Group afterparty looking like the winner she is and posing for photos alongside the record label’s CEO Lucian Grange.
Kim Petras — who won the award for best pop duo/group performance for her and Sam Smith’s “Unholy” and became the first transgender winner in the category in one fell swoop — was also in attendance at the Universal Music Group afterparty, where she posed alongside EVP Michele Anthony for a snap.
Album of the year winner Harry Styles also made an appearance at the afterparties, posing with country artist Orville Peck and several label executives at Sony Music Entertainment’s post-Grammys reception after a big night at the ceremony, which also included wins in the best pop vocal album for Harry’s House and a dazzling performance of “As It Was.”
See more artists, including friendship duos SZA & H.E.R. and Olivia Rodrigo & Conan Gray, in Billboard‘s Grammy afterparties gallery below.
Even with streaming services dominating music consumption, there ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby, and physical music – from vinyl to expansive box sets – is experiencing a resurgence that’s proving to be a boon for tactile superfans.
10 Best Box Sets of 2022
12/16/2022
Blondie fans were gifted with one of the best box sets in recent memory this year with Against the Odds: 1974-1982, which tracks the band’s unlikely evolution from scrappy CBGB mainstays to chart-topping pop powerhouses. One of the premier bands who funneled the energy and ethos of punk into punchy pop songs in the vein of Brill Building hits, Blondie was also the most successful act to emerge from the NYC punk scene, topping the Billboard Hot 100 four times from 1979-81.
Beyond rounding up the remastered albums from the band’s first era, Against the Odds boasts illuminating lo-fi demos from 1974-75 – including a Shangri-Las cover and irresistibly cheeky rarities such as “Puerto Rico” — as well as selections from an album they might have made with disco super-producer Giorgio Moroder in a different timeline. And the liner notes – oftentimes an exercise in rose-tinted adoration or an afterthought in some box sets – are perfectly executed by Erin Osmon, providing thoughtful context and wry anecdotes.
It’s no surprise that Against the Odds is up for best historical album at the 2023 Grammy Awards, for which voting recently began. But it might be a surprise that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers (who could also make the Songwriters Hall of Fame next year) have yet to win a Grammy despite their undeniable impact on generations of musicians from numerous genres.
Riding high on the tide of Against the Odds, co-founders Debbie Harry and Chris Stein hopped on a Zoom with Billboard to discuss everything from TikTok to a “garage” of unreleased tapes they’re sitting on to almost working with Phil Spector back in the day.
So what was the impetus behind pulling together this massive box set. Was the label looking for something or did you guys feel like you needed to get this out?
Chris Stein: The label is not like it used to be. It’s not the serfdom it used to be where we were the serfs. It mostly came from having all the tapes, just a garage full of tapes that followed me around.
Debbie Harry: I think what happened was that Chris started to have everything digitized –
Chris: We were working at this studio called The Magic Shop downtown [Manhattan], where Bowie did Blackstar, all this amazing music came out of there. We were the last band in there as they closed — they got pushed out by rent. And the owner, Steve Rosenthal, has a digitizing company [MARS]. So we started talking, Tommy [Camuso] and me, about doing all the tapes that I have. I have a literal garage full of tapes and he has all that stuff and we’re going over it gradually.
Debbie: You mean there’s more! [laughs] Oh no.
So even now we’re just scratching the surface. What kind of material is left? Are we talking unreleased songs?
Chris: Probably, yeah? There’s more stuff. I was pleased that people gravitated toward the weird-ass demos and all these little odds and ends [on the box set]. It’s stuff that’s been in the back of our [gestures to head] whatever for years.
The first song on the first disc, which actually appears in two different versions on this set, is a cover of the Shangri-Las’ “Out in the Streets.” But in the liner notes, Chris, you said you initially weren’t all that into the girl group sound.
Chris: When I was a little kid I thought it was like Justin Bieber, I thought it was too commercial and I didn’t pay attention to it. Then I started the band situation and realized how brilliant all that stuff was. Now, I find it really weird that this whole generation of kids on TikTok is drawn to the one little phrase in “Walking In the Sand,” one of the Shangri-Las’ songs: “oh no, oh no, oh no no.” Most of the kids don’t even know what the f–k it is I’m sure. It’s a strange phenomenon to me.
You can certainly hear the influence of girl group on the early Blondie records. And aside from the New York Dolls, there weren’t a lot of other punk bands making explicit girl group references back then.
Debbie: The reason I got to sing on the Ramones record [“Go Lil’ Camaro Go”] was because of that. They told me they really liked that about my voice and we did do some kind of acknowledgment to those songs, and that’s why they put me on.
Chris: Debbie is the only female on a Ramones record.
What was that session like?
Debbie: Pretty straight ahead. It’s not really a complicated melody musically and it’s a song about a car. (laughs)
One thing this box set makes evident that people might not realize is how early “Heart of Glass” [released in 1979] was percolating in the band’s story, titled “Once I Had a Love” as far back as 1975 and then “The Disco Song” at one point. What made it take so long to get right?
Chris: It happens. Some of these songs I have on this new record we just finished are 10 years old. It just happens. Everybody – writers, directors – have germs that stay with them for long periods.
Did you ever think of just giving up on it?
Chris: We were always doing so much stuff simultaneously, and it was just always there.
Debbie: We were doing pre-production with Mike Chapman [on Parallel Lines] and we played him a bunch of songs, ran through everything, and Mike said, “Yeah, yeah, do you have anything else?” And that was it.
Courtesy Photo
In the liner notes, you describe how Chapman’s approach to Parallel Lines was a bit more intense than what you were used to on previous albums Blondie and Plastic Letters. You’re still making music, so what do you prefer to do these days – get it done quick, or obsess over take after take?
Chris: We work with John Congleton and he’s more immediate, but everyone’s skill set is different. We work with different musicians now and some of these guys are masters, more so than we were back then for sure. There’s a lot of variables. I don’t know if Chapman was quite at a Stanley Kubrick level with the takes but it felt like that occasionally.
Debbie: I think [Richard] Gottehrer [producer on Blondie and Plastic Letters] always recorded us much the way they record jazz bands — he went for that moment, that feeling, that interaction. And Chapman was the tone Meister. He was used to making things for radio and the pop format. He’d done all those bands in Europe and the U.K. and that was his method.
Chris: The first two records where much more live. The whole band would play and we’d do a couple overdubs. Parallel Lines was certainly pieced together, which I really enjoy: I like the layering process. It’s more precise and a different approach entirely. It was educational. Chapman had such a great bedside manner. He made it easier working really hard. He’s a funny, crazy guy. He’s a character in addition to having this ear and ability.
Giorgio Moroder, another producer you worked with [“Call Me”], certainly had an ear for radio. In the liner notes, Moroder said he was supposed to do an album with you guys but left because of the band’s in-fighting. Is that how you remember it?
Chris: Yeah, Giorgio just didn’t want to put up with our crazy bullsh-t.
Debbie: I think Giorgio was a much different – he was primarily a songwriter-producer, and he just cut to the chase. He didn’t want to deal with the subtleties or inner workings of a band. He made great stuff.
Do you have any regrets that album didn’t happen?
Debbie: No.
Chris: Yes, no, I don’t know. There’s lots of stuff. Phil Spector really wanted to do a record with us and I’m really glad we didn’t get into that. I heard all those insane stories about the Ramones and him.
You might have literally dodged a bullet.
Debbie: I don’t know, I sort of feel badly about what happened to him. There’s been a show on recently, a documentary [Spector on Showtime].
Chris: He shot that girl, no doubt.
Debbie: Yeah, I know. The people that worked with him said he reached a certain point and he lost it. He went to a bad place in his brain. And that’s a shame because he did some genius things and should be remembered for that.
Chris: There seems to be somebody else, a certain person in rap music, who’s having a public meltdown right now and should not have a lot of fan boys surrounding him and telling him how great he is all the time.
The box set also includes this crazy Christmas version of “Rapture” called “Yule Town Throw Down.” So… why is there a Christmas version of “Rapture”?
Chris: When we did the recording, we did it slower and decided it was too slow. I got the 2-inch tapes of the slower version and brought it into my studio and put myself, [Fab 5] Freddy and Debbie on it. It was for a British magazine called Flexipop! that had a little plastic disc with each issue and that was the Christmas issue. So that was floating around for a long time.
There’s also an alternate, slightly experimental version of “The Tide Is High” with Walter Steding on this set that’s beautiful.
Chris: He’s a really eccentric musician. There’s a violin on the original, the Paragons’ original, which is really interesting to me. I can’t think of another reggae song with a violin, period. And all the horn lines on our final version are based on that violin line. So it was referential.
“Union City Blue” is one of my favorite Blondie songs, but it wasn’t a hit. Do you have any favorite Blondie songs that you wish had been bigger?
Debbie: Well, this morning I woke up singing “Nothing Is Real But the Girl” [from No Exit] and I don’t know why. It’s funny how different songs come into my mind for no apparent reason. Some of those darker, less famous tracks are really great. I would love to be playing them live. It’s frustrating. We could do a three-hour show, and I’d probably die, but I’d love to play a lot of those songs. I’d love to do a thing where we’d stay at a club for a week and do a lot of material. That would be fun. There’s a lot of stuff.
Chris: Maybe we could get Bruce to come up instead of you. All his shows are like five hours, right?
He is the marathon man. You should do a residency! People would love that.
Debbie: We’ll see. Maybe it’ll happen.
The Hunter was the last Blondie album of that first era. It didn’t connect with fans in the same way your previous albums had. Did you care at the time?
Chris: I was mostly disappointed in the cover. [Smiling] The cover is bad. There’s some great stuff on there. It was a lower period for us personally. Things were in decline and it reflects that. If it had a better cover maybe people would see it as a breakup album or some bullsh-t.
Debbie: I don’t even remember what’s on there except for “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game.”
Chris: “English Boys” is a good song. “Island of Lost Souls” was released in the U.K. as a single as the same time the f–king Falklands [an undeclared war between the U.K. and Argentina] were going on, and they all decided it was about that, even though it had nothing to do with that.
Debbie: We did okay with “War Child,” it was good for a show.
There’s a lot of great covers on this box set, too: The Doors, Johnny Cash. How did you decide what artists to cover?
Chris: Just what we liked. We covered so much stuff. We were always talking about doing a Pin Ups record of covers [like Bowie’s 1973 album]. We always did Stones songs over the years, we did that Beatles song, “Please Please Me.” We played that many times over the last 10 years.
Debbie: Especially when we get to Liverpool.
Chris: I always tell younger bands to do covers so if people aren’t familiar with your material, it’s an automatic connection.
Blondie songs are certainly still a part of the collective cultural consciousness.
Chris: Everything is about soundtracking now. We’re lucky we have songs that represent the period. I can’t believe we got a song [“The Tide Is High”] in Better Call Saul. Having a song in the Breaking Bad universe was f–king amazing.
Debbie: He can die now. (laughs)
Chris: And the thing in The Boys. [Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy] doing the rap [from “Rapture”] was great.
Debbie: Oh God, that was great.
So you pay attention when your songs crop up?
Chris: I do a lot of TV watching. More than listening to music. I get so much new music in front of me from looking at TikTok and Instagram Reels. And I have teenage daughters, too. There’s so much great modern stuff, it’s limitless.
Do you enjoy TikTok?
Chris: I wind up on Instagram more. What I hate about TikTok is that everybody makes a video and then they lure you in with “now look for part 2” and it’s impossible to find. There’s a lot of really great stuff on there. But also tons of garbage.
Certainly true of any medium. Against the Odds is up for best historical album at the 2023 Grammys. What would it mean to see that album win a Grammy?
Chris: It would be nice to get the thing. We got a Clio, an advertising award. It’s not even in EGOT.
You could say it’s in the CEGOT. After the box set was completed, what did it feel like seeing the band’s first period all laid out?
Debbie: I mean, great. A lot of good times. A lot of satisfaction. When you come up with something good it makes you feel great. The shows are really fun. I can’t imagine what my life would have been without it. I guess that’s a good sign.
Chris: Being any kind of an artist, it becomes such a large part of your make-up. I encourage everybody to become more creative.
Debbie, before this, you released a well-received memoir, Face It, in 2019. So you’ve done a good deal of looking back recently.
Debbie: Now, I’m reading a book [Don’t Call Me Home] by Alexa Auder, Viva’s daughter, and I love the way she deals with these deep emotional things. It almost makes me think I should have gone deeper. But Chris’ book is coming out — it will be really historical and great and full of insight. I’m looking forward to it, I’ve only read 50 pages. How far have you gotten?
Chris: It’s like 100,000 words at this point. I keep tweaking it. There’s so much stuff it’s nuts. I have this Zelig-like relationship to the music culture where I was in so many places at the right moment, including New York in the ‘70s and San Francisco in ’67, ’68, all of that stuff. It goes on and on.