I thought Stephen Colbert was speaking for us all when he used his opening moments on the world stage of this year’s Grammy Awards to ask: “What I want to know is: Why isn’t Susan Boyle here?”
Why, indeed. As our own Stephen, Stephen Reily, pointed out in December, the album by the 48-year-old singer, “I Dreamed a Dream” was the best-selling new album of 2009 — and second in sales overall. Quoting the New York Times, he continued: “For many in the music industry, Ms. Boyle’s sales are a reminder of a large and often forgotten audience: older listeners…”
But lest those of you who missed the Grammys assume we older women were about to be thanked by Colbert, guess again. Here’s how he answered his own opening question: “I mean, (Susan Boyle) accomplished something huge this year. You may have brought the sexy back, but she sent it away again. No thanks Sexy, we’re just going with good singing this year…this year the industry was saved by a 48-year-old Scottish cat lady in sensible shoes.”
Ouch.
And that was just the beginning. Before the night was out, watching in growing dismay the parade of presenters and performers, honorees and attendees, I realized that the industry had managed to render virtually invisible the very demographic that had the potential to come to its rescue again in 2010. Vibrant Women are, after all, the ones with the highest level of disposable income. And despite the stereotypes, we know, love and buy good music.
Okay, I don’t expect to see one of us in nude body suit hanging from the rafters with water pouring over us, a la Pink (although knowing VN, I’m sure at least some of us would be game!) but besides the token Stevie Nicks (61) and the septuagenarian Roberta Flack (fittingly singing “Where is the Love?”), there wasn’t a single woman of Grammy age at the Grammys.
This isn’t a case of simple ageism, either. For there were plenty of middle-aged and older men. For starters: Placido Domingo, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Jeff Beck, Lionel Richie, Quentin Tarantino, Smoky Robinson, Jeff Bridges, Carlos Santana and Ringo Starr.
And the best they could do for us was Stevie and Roberta, a still life photo of honoree Loretta Lynn, one middle-aged music business executive and a couple of audience shots of beaming moms.
The Grammys needs a new name next year. Call it the Young and Nubile Awards, or the It’s Okay to be an Older Man But Not An Older Woman Awards, but there was nary a real live Grammy in sight at last Sunday’s festivities.
And Stephen Colbert — to not only ignore us — but bash us? I must say, it’s time to wake up. We Grammies rock. And as for the music business’s top awards show? To marginalize your top consumer: there’s only one possible explanation. The Grammys are off their rocker.
For more on Susan Boyle:
From the beginning, Susan Boyle has intrigued the Vibrant Nation community. Women at midlife and beyond not only opened our hearts but our pocketbooks for Susan’s album, providing the emergency blood transfusion for an industry already in intensive care. Here are some of the blog posts and conversations we have shared:
- Susan Boyle: Singing up a storm – of ambivalence
- Revisiting Susan Boyle: Embracing our inner nerd
- 5 things we’ve learned from Susan Boyle
- Feeling guilty about Susan Boyle’s breakdown
A bit depressing to be so invisible, isn’t it…
We have only ourselves to blame. Several women of a certain age, including Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston, released new albums this year, but we didn’t buy their work. Also, Susan Boyle isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
In spite of the “unculture of youth,” the grown-ups topped the charts: best selling album of 2009 went to 48 year old Susan Boyle, while best selling artist of 2009 was the late, great Michael Jackson. U2 is on the top ten album sales chart as well.
I wish I could take credit for this, found on aginghippsters.com:
“It was fun being a baby boomer… until now. Some of the artists of the 60′s are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers:
Herman’s Hermits — Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Walker
Ringo Starr — I Get By With a Little Help From Depends
The Bee Gees — How Can You Mend a Broken Hip?
Bobby Darin — Splish, Splash, I Was Havin’ a Flash
Roberta Flack — The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face
Johnny Nash — I Can’t See Clearly Now!
Paul Simon — Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver
The Commodores — Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom
Marvin Gaye — Heard It Through the Grape Nuts
Procol Harem — A Whiter Shade of Hair
Leo Sayer— You Make Me Feel Like Napping
The Temptations — Papa’s Got a Kidney Stone
Abba — Denture Queen!
Tony Orlando — Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall
Helen Reddy — I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore!
Leslie Gore — It’s My Procedure, and I’ll Cry If I Want To!
And my favorite: Willie Nelson — On the Commode Again”
Cute, Yakkity!
But there is truth in what you’ve said. As far as who performs on the show, The Grammys are less interested in who’s buying it than they are in who’s making it, I guess. Women in our age bracket are not in the forefront these days.
I haven’t heard anything new from:
Cher
Madonna
Tina Turner
HEART
Chaka Khan
Aretha Franklin
Cyndi Lauper
The Pointer Sisters
… to name a few.
I guess, as always, women have to work harder to be recognized!
I hope this doesn’t post twice. I’m signed in but for some reason, VN thinks I’m not… sigh…
I agree with you the Grammys were B-o-r-i-n-g with a capital B. Lady GAGA is gagging me. I cannot relate. The whole show was trying so hard it was pathetic. I thought whoever produced it this year should be fired. What a self flagilating piece of gue. It was vaudeville with a rock beat put to it. People with real talent like Susan Boyle don’t have to wear outrageous circus outfits to get attention. You’d think the LA Music scene would get a clue with Susan Boyles success. People want to see real people succeed. Not anorexic freeks or women who will stut naked on stage “because they can.” Middle American cannot relate. Only the young and the misfits, and then not even alot of the young. Lorraine McKennit is well known all through Europe as a gifted singer and musician yet here she could not succeed because she isn’t 19 and razor thin: the beginning criteria for being signed by a major label.Get real music business.
Maybe the older women were invited and chose not to appear. The narcissistic public is vicious in judgment of any signs of aging in women, so the camera stops being a friend to many beautiful women way too soon. I can understand staying home.
I think Sea Writer has a point. Let’s face it — when you’re in the public eye, you are scrutinized to the nth degree and Heaven help you if you don’t look the way you looked in your 20s.
A few years ago, Cher and Tina Turner appeared on Oprah. I was thrilled to see them as I am a huge fan of both of these powerhouse women. A few days later, my brother told me that he’d seen the show too and the first thing he said was, “They looked fat.” HUH?
Excuse me? It’s OK for John Travolta to have put on a gazillion pounds since he was Vinnie Barbarino and for Elton John, Neil Young, and Al Green to look like they ate one too many donuts, but it’s not okay for us? Apparently not.
Sigh.
I think there is an advantage to not having as good of eye sight…you can sit back and just LISTEN to the music. What I have found is that while I do not like to watch people like Lady Gaga, I actually do like her music and think she is a talented artist. I guess in a music market that is geared to reaching a generation that is all about videos…you must have a gimmick.
Great points. I actually like Lady Gaga, though–she seems to me to be more of a conceptual artist than a traditional pretty girl. That said, I wonder if we can be blamed for not buying the music of women our age when the whole industry neglects to market to us. Plus, there’s no reason why old male rockers were so honored/prominent, regardless of how many records they’ve sold recently, while old women rockers were not invited to the party.
The good thing about music is that it has no age. If we look at the performers behind the music, we see ages, but music is sound that is transparent to the vessel that transcends the art.
Let us rejoice knowing that we have the freedom to listen to anything that is available to us, let us celebrate that we hear the music someone created, and let us release our frustrations and enjoy the individual music preferences we create for ourselves. There should be no bias toward a sound we may not approve of, or an awards show that may seem out-of-line, for it is all another persons opinion whether it is right or wrong.
“Not anorexic freeks or women who will stut naked on stage “because they can.” Middle American cannot relate. Only the young and the misfits,…” lynnericc
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Sounds like our generation circa 1968.
Calling them ‘freeks’ (sic) and ‘misfits’ is pretty harsh, lynnericc. It is the job of the youth to rebel and to question the status quo; we did it and why should they be denied to do so? They are experimenting with instruments, music, and lyrics and, given time, will create some memorable music.
What is disappointing is that there are so few songs expressing outrage at the abuse of the earth and its creatures great and small. The highlight of the Grammys program for me was Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Usher, and Carrie Underwood singing Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.” Inter-generational artists singing a song with a message.
(P.S. I’ve been encountering log-in and posting difficulties, hence my replying to the OP instead of to lynnericc directly)
That not wanting to expose myself to other people’s judgements about my looks thing, that’s why I’m so glad I’m an author not a performer! That said, I think this generation of young female singers, who are so playing the youthful sex card, will have an even harder difficulty sustaining their careers for, say, any longer than most models and actresses. Of course, there are always exceptions (i.e.Streep) but I think this is another example of short-sighted thinking on the girls’ part and exploitation by a system that just wants to make money now. By the way, I thought Michael Jackson’s song about the earth was the highlight, too.