The 2006 Brit Awards

I must admit that I generally do not pay any attention to chart music. I never listen to the radio and I am usually the last one of my mates to hear the "latest" pop tunes. If I ever do check the charts I am normally hard-pressed to recognise even 2 or 3 songs in the Top 40. The reason: chart music SUCKS. It's true that every once in a while a great tune comes along that I will buy and decide that I can't live without but for me pop music lost the plot sometime around 1999 (which coincidently exactly coincides with just sometime before my 30th birthday)...

On Wednesday night The Brit Awards were held and if you were to ask me before I would have said that The Brits were way cooler than The Grammys (because after all they are British). But I was wrong! After looking at the winners list from this year and the previous few years I have decided that The Brits are nearly as bad as The Grammys. Check out the current and previous winners in the "British Album" (BA), "British Single" (BS) and "British Breakthrough Act" (BBA) categories:

2006
BA: X&Y - Coldplay
BS: Speed Of Sound - Coldplay
BBA: Arctic Monkeys

2005
BA: Hopes & Fears - Keane
BS: Your Game - Will Young
BBA: Keane

2004
BA: Permission To Land - The Darkness
BS: White Flag - Dido
BBA: Busted

2003
BA: A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay
BS: Just A Little - Liberty X
BBA: Norah Jones

2002
BA: No Angel - Dido
BS: Don't Stop Movin' - S Club 7
BBA: Blue

2001
BA: Parachutes - Coldplay
BS: Rock DJ - Robbie Williams
BBA: A1

2000
BA: The Man Who - Travis
BS: She's The One - Robbie Williams
BBA: S Club 7

1999
BA: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours - The Manics
BS: Angels - Robbie Williams
BBA: Belle & Sebastian

1998
BA: Urban Hymns - The Verve
BS: Never Ever - All Saints
BBA: Stereophonics

1997
BA: Everything Must Go - The Manics
BS: Wannabe - Spice Girls
BBA: Kula Shaker

1996
BA: (What's The Story) Morning Glory
BS: Back For Good - Take That
BBA: Supergrass

1995
BA: Parklife - Blur
BS: Parklife - Blur
BBA: Oasis

1994
BA: Connected - Stereo MCs
BS: Pray - Take That
BBA: Gabrielle

1993
BA: Diva - Annie Lennox
BS: Could It Be Magic - Take That
BBA: Tasmin Archer

1992
BA: Seal - Seal
BS: These Are The Days Of Our Lives - Queen
BBA: Beverley Craven

See what I mean? I think almost all of the BS winners are totally dodgy (except for maybe Speed Of Sound) but the quality in the BA & BBA categories really ended around 1999 (although I do think Parachutes is a fantastic album).

It will also be very interesting to see what Arctic Monkeys do. They have had the praise & adoration of internet fans and the music press for the past 6 months but now the public at large is starting to take notice of them too. It seems that they have turned the established "blueprint" for a successful album completely on it's head. Previously, a band would either have to sign with a major label and rely on them to generate interest & hype or they would have to spend years playing gigs & releasing albums slowly building a fan base. Arctic Monkeys haven't done either of those things. They signed to an independent label and put all of their songs on the internet for free! One year later they have the fastest selling debut album in the history of British rock, which also totally disproves the assertion that file sharing is destroying CD sales.

So, will they become the next Oasis (1995 winners) or the next A1 (2001 winners)?