Junos Were Awful

Did those Juno Awards suck last night or what?

With William Shatner hosting Canada’s premiere awards night recognizing Canadian musical talent in Ottawa, I was hoping he would steal a line from Star Trek and say “the needs of the many, out-weigh the needs of the few”. Judging by the reviews I’ve been reading from people online, the majority felt the same way I did. The “many” would have preferred to see a much better show.

When it comes to today’s music, I’m fairly knowledgeable but I admit I’m not as in tune with the pulse of modern music (if you want to call it that) as I was even just ten years ago. Of course I used to work in radio so it was a big part of my life.

William Shatner Sings at opening of 2012 Juno Awards

I do enjoy some of today’s music and you can find me in my car from time to time singing along with Kesha, Gotye, Eminem, Adele and many other none one name artists and bands. Admittedly my tastes tend to gravitate towards Classic Rock and 80’s tunes and that includes Canadian bands. I grew up listening to Bryan Adams, Northern Pikes, Joni Mitchell, Honeymoon Suite, Neil Young, Platinum Blonde, The Tragically Hip, Haywire, Gowan and so many other cool Canadian bands.

Perhaps what made those bands cool was the fact that they really felt like our own. Many didn’t have the international recognition like a lot of Canadian acts do today. They sounded different while today most Canadian artists tend to sound like the same cookie-cutter bubblegum crap that comes out of the U.S. Remember the days when songs had guitar solos? Now instead of a good guitar riff, we’re stuck with Rap solos where all they do is mention the names of the artists singing on the song. When did it become important to say your name in every song you sing? It’s like they know they sound like everyone else and need to take roll call just to make sure the audience knows who their listening to. Could you imagine The Beatles, Led Zeppelin or even Elvis Presley doing that? I think not. When you’re good, the music can stand on its own merits.

What I witnessed on the show last night was mostly bloody awful. I realize times change and I’m probably sounding like an “old fart” but other than performances by Nickelback, Blue Rodeo and Hedley and the voice of Feist, I just didn’t see a lot of stuff to be proud of.

Maybe it was the venue and atmosphere that distracted from the performances as well. In the past I attended several Juno Awards shows in Toronto at the O’Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre I think) and it was much more intimate with a lot less yelling and screaming by young adults waiving telephones and wearing mouse ears. We were able to mingle with the performers prior to the show in the lobby and talk with them. I spent time chatting with the boys from Barenaked Ladies, The Northern Pikes, Rush, Ronnie Hawkins, Jeff Healey and others. They were just good people sharing a love for music.

The one positive from the night was how the performances were live and not recorded or lip-synched. That has always been an important part of the show in my mind. Even if they did give a Juno Award to the most famous lip-syncing group in the history of music...Milli Vanilli.

I guess times change and things change with it but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Luckily there’s YouTube where I can find plenty of performances by past artists and groups from my youth to keep me satisfied. But I may have just watched my final Juno Awards.

Just for fun, here's a blast from the past as Platinum Blonde performs at the 1984 Juno Awards in Toronto.