Charlie Spitzer <Spitzer@his-phoenix-multics.arpa> (01/29/85)
Did anyone else notice that they have seperate catagories for black musicians on last night's AMA award show? Isn't that rather odd in todays' times? charlie (Spitzer%pco@CISL.ARPA)
michaelf@ISM780.UUCP (02/01/85)
Someone told me they had a black category, too. I also
heard Lionel what's-his-name won an award for the best album
or song or something but it wasn't in the black category. Can
a white win in the black category if a black can win in the "regular"
category? Probably from the same crew who brought you lines like
"I'm not racist, some of my favorite records are by blacks".
Sad at best.gregbo@houxm.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (02/04/85)
> From: michaelf@ISM780.UUCP > Someone told me they had a black category, too. I also > heard Lionel what's-his-name won an award for the best album > or song or something but it wasn't in the black category. Can > a white win in the black category if a black can win in the "regular" > category? Probably from the same crew who brought you lines like > "I'm not racist, some of my favorite records are by blacks". > Sad at best. The "black" music category as you call it is not meant to be segregated to blacks only, but categorizes a type of music which blacks typically enjoy. And, in answer to your question, yes, white artists do win awards in the black categories. KC and the Sunshine Band had 4 #1 records on the r&b charts from 1975-77 and some other all-white group (Foxy, I think) had a #1 record in 1978. -- If you wanna ride, don't ride the white horse. Greg Skinner (gregbo) {allegra,cbosgd,ihnp4}!houxm!gregbo
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (02/07/85)
> The "black" music category as you call it is not meant to be segregated to > blacks only, but categorizes a type of music which blacks typically enjoy. > And, in answer to your question, yes, white artists do win awards in the black > categories. KC and the Sunshine Band had 4 #1 records on the r&b charts from > 1975-77 and some other all-white group (Foxy, I think) had a #1 record in 1978. The American Music Awards did not give *ANY* awards for R&B or any other "traditionally black" music. Strictly Mainstream Pop and Country. The categories were not "black music" categories, they were "black musician" categories. Winners in the "black" categories regularly took the identical "non-segregated" award with the same performance. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (02/13/85)
I didn't see the American music awards (I hate awards shows) but even amongst
those who did, there seems to be some disagreement over whether the black
categories were for black musicians, or for traditionally black music.
If they were for black musicians, then I disagree with them. For about the
past 20 years, music has been one of the few parts of our culture that has
been almost free of racism, and I think that it's a big step backward to put
racism back into music by having awards that are only for black musicians.
Racism is racism no matter which race it favours. (This is not the proper
news group to talk about racism in general, as some have been doing, but it's
okay to talk about racism in music.) If the awards are for traditionally
black music, then that's fine, but they should be renamed to "R&B", "Soul",
or whatever so that people like us don't get all upset about them. After
all, I don't think country music has ever been called "white music", even
though it's just as traditionally white as R&B is black. Categorizations
like "black music" and "white music" tend to put up barriers that may cause
a lot of great music to be overlooked. I don't care what colour the artists
are as long as they sound good.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!jeff
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeffckk@cmu-cs-g.ARPA (Chris Koenigsberg) (02/15/85)
Anyone who says "For the past 20 years, music has been one of the few
parts of our culture to be almost free of racism" is obviously
1) white
2) male
3) a non-musician
Chris Koenigsberg
tektronix!hplabs!hao!seismo!rochester!cmu-cs-pt!cmu-cs-g!ckk
ckk@cmu-cs-g.arpa
1025 MurrayHill Ave.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15217
(412)362-6422
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