Grammys suffer attack of social conscience

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 38

Grammys suffer attack of social conscience

By

MATTHEW HELLER

NZPA-Reuter Los Angeles

U2, the socially conscious Irish rock group which soared to stardom in 1987, has taken the Grammy Award nominations by storm. The band, a newcomer to the Grammy Awards, was nominated in four categories, including record of the year for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and album of the year for “The Joshua Tree.”

Other artists looming large in the nominations, announced at a news conference, were Michael Jackson, the countrysinger, Emmylou Harris, and another newcomer to the Grammy scene, Suzanne Vega. Rock veterans Steve Winwood and Paul Simon, who won major awards in 1987, were nominated again, but

Bruce Springsteen, who released two top-selling albums in the eligibility period, was not nominated in any major category.

The thirtieth annual Grammy Awards, the music industry’s most coveted prizes, will be presented at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on March 2. Voters are members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

U2, which is headed by the flamboyant Bono, reached stardom with the release last year of “The Joshua Tree.” The album, a mixture of hard-driving rock and earnest, idealistic lyrics, has sold more than four million copies and provided two No. 1 singles, including “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Other major nominations garnered by the

band were for best rock vocal group performance and Song of the Year. Jackson, winner of 11 previous Grammy Awards, received four nominations, including Album of the Year for “Bad.” Emmylou Harris, also cited in four categories, was nominated for Album of the Year for “Trio,” on which she collaborated with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt.

Vega, a veteran of the Greenwich Village club scene, grabbed some of the Grammy limelight with her folk-oriented single “Luka,” a nominee for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, which is awarded to the songwriter.

British artists are prominently featured in the Best New Artist category, with the groups Cutting Crew and Swing Out

Sister being nominated.

In the classical field, the singer, Kathleen Battle, took five nominations, and the conductor Georg Solti, a 25-time Grammy winner, garnered three. . Among the more unusual nominees are two golden oldies. “La Bamba,” revived by the group Los Lobos for the movie of the same name about the late Richie Valens, earned Record of the Year and Song of the Year nominations. “Candle in the Wind,” an Elton John reissue, was cited for best male pop vocal performance.

Nominees in the two music video categories are as diverse as rock singers Cyndi. Lauper and David Lee Roth, Barbra Streisand and the piano maestro, Vladimir Horowitz.