Daft Punk

Photo: Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com

Feature

Daft Punk, 'Random Access Memories': For The Record

Look back at how the French electronic duo hit it big with their fourth studio album at the 56th GRAMMY Awards

GRAMMYs

Jan 4, 2018 - 12:42 pm

If Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, seemed ubiquitous in 2013, you weren't imagining things.

Daft Punk For The Record: 'Random Access Memories'

The hit reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Daft Punk's first-ever Top 10 hit. It came from the French electronic duo's fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, an ambitious LP that brought in sound and production influences from classic albums such as the Eagles' Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon.

These creative inspirations paid off for the robotic team at the 56th GRAMMY Awards. Random Access Memories took home not only Best Dance/Electronic Album but also the coveted gramophone for Album Of The Year. In addition, "Get Lucky" earned Record Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance honors.

"Back when I was drinking and using, I used to imagine things that weren't there that were frightening," album producer Paul Williams said during the group's acceptance speech for Album Of The Year. "Then I got sober and two robots called me and asked me to make an album."

Watch: Daft Punk win Album Of The Year

And what an album they made.

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Daft Punk For The Record: 'Random Access Memories'

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Photos: WireImage.com

Video

Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Adele: Record Of The Year GRAMMY Rewind

Time travel through GRAMMY history and revisit the impressive lineage of Record Of The Year winners

Tim McPhate

GRAMMYs

Jan 4, 2018 - 5:17 pm

Numerically speaking, it's the first category on the GRAMMY Awards nominations list. Conversely, it is typically one of the final categories announced on the annual GRAMMY telecast. And its winners have spanned jazz, pop, rock, R&B, and Latin, among other genres.

Rewind The Record Of The Year GRAMMY Winners

What's the category? It's Record Of The Year, which is an award that goes to a track's artist, producer, engineer, mixer, and mastering engineer.

The Record Of The Year category's 59-year history offers a unique aural tour through the annals popular music — one that certainly has the makings for one powerfully diverse playlist.

Record Of The Year: Full List Of Winners And Nominees

There's Bobby Darin's swingin' "Mack The Knife" (1959), Henry Mancini's exquisite "Days Of Wine And Roses" (1963), Frank Sinatra's velvety "Strangers In The Night" (1966), Simon And Garfunkel's inspired "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Roberta Flack's radiant "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973), and Captain & Tennille's breezy "Love Will Keep Us Together" (1975).

In the '80s, radio-friendly hits such as Toto's "Rosanna" (1982), Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (1983) and Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" (1984) were among the winning recordings.

The '90s netted the likes of Eric Clapton's moving "Tears In Heaven" (1992), Whitney Houston's ubiquitous "I Will Always Love You" (1993) and Santana featuring Rob Thomas' infectious "Smooth" (1999).

The Record Of The Year lineage continued into the 2000s and beyond with unforgettable hits such as U2's "Beautiful Day" (2000), Green Day's "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" (2005), Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" (2007), Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers' "Get Lucky" (2013), and most recently, Adele's "Hello" (2016).

Which recording will become the 60th Record Of The Year GRAMMY winner? Tune in to the 60th GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 28 to find out.

What's The Difference? GRAMMY Record Of The Year Vs. Song Of The Year

The Beatles

Photo: Central Press/Getty Images

News

The Beatles Take Aim With 1966's 'Revolver': For The Record

Their final album before retiring from live shows, find out how the Fab Four's seventh studio album changed their sonic direction

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Aug 2, 2018 - 11:07 am

By 1966, the Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr —were ready for a change in their musical direction. Namely, they planned to retire from live performances. Before that, however, they released their seventh studio album on Aug. 5, 1966, Revolver.

Revisit The Beatles' 'Revolver'

Because Revolver was the final album the band made before retiring from live shows, the Fab Four never intended to perform it, so they freed up their creativity in the studio, incorporating groundbreaking techniques such as tape loops and backward recordings on "Tomorrow Never Knows." They also stretched their instrumentation, employing a string octet ("Eleanor Rigby"), French Horn ("For No One") and sitar on multiple tracks.

On the strength of these songs and other now classic Beatles hits such as "Yellow Submarine," "She Said She Said," "Good Day Sunshine," and "Got To Get You Into My Life," the album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

At the 9th GRAMMY Awards, Revolver earned the Beatles a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year, while the album's cover designer Klaus Voormann won Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts for the LP's cover.

In 1999 Revolver was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, one of seven Beatles albums currently in the Hall. The track "Eleanor Rigby" was inducted in 2002.

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Beach Boys

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

News

Remembering The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds': For The Record

Take a look back at the album that revolutionized the sound of the classic band

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Jul 19, 2018 - 12:24 pm

If there's one band that could encapsulate the sound of summer it would be the aptly named Beach Boys. Since their inception in 1961, the GRAMMY-winning California band has taken us straight to the source of sun, sand and surfing with a string of hit albums. But with their 11th studio album, 1966's masterpiece Pet Songs, masterminded largely by Brian Wilson, the band created a new, more complex soundscape that cemented their place in music history.

Revisit The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds'

The story goes that Wilson had crafted much of what would become Pet Sounds by the time the rest of the band — comprising at the time vocalist Al Jardine, vocalist Bruce Johnston, vocalist/co-writer Mike Love, guitarist/vocalist Carl Wilson, and drummer/vocalist Dennis Wilson — returned from a tour of Japan and Hawaii.

The album's musical and lyrical direction marked a departure from the surf rock the Beach Boys had been known for, but Brian Wilson was adamant about the evolving direction of the band's sound, which included many orchestral instruments and unconventional sound effects using bicycle bells, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs.

"The result was autobiographical, but it wasn't Wilson's autobiography," writes Liel Leibovitz about Wilson's masterpiece. "[It's] a collective autobiography of everything we all feel when we wake up in the morning and are moved by the mystery of how impossible it is, how inevitable, and how stupidly joyful just to try and reach out to another human being."

"A lot of love went into Pet Sounds. And people pick up on that too, and they really like it 'cause they feel the love." Brian performs the classic album tonight at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ. Look for a show coming near you! brianwilson.com/tour #petsounds #love #1966

A post shared by Brian Wilson (@brianwilsonlive) on Jul 19, 2018 at 5:58am PDT

Commercially, however, the album initially didn't reach the same heights as previous efforts. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 while popular tracks "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows" and "Caroline, No" achieved chart success in the U.S. and abroad. But as the rest of the world caught up with the genius of the album, it's now earned triple platinum sales status with the RIAA and is hailed as one of the best pop albums of all time.

Accordingly, Pet Sounds was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1998. In 2001 the Beach Boys were also honored with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award for the indelible mark they have made on the music industry.

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For The Record: Cole's "The Christmas Song"

For The Record: 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

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For The Record: Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass'

For The Record: Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'

For The Record: Bee Gees' 'Saturday Night Fever'

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For The Record: Jennifer Lopez And Marc Anthony

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Nile Rodgers

Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage

News

Nile Rodgers Elected Chair Of Songwriters Hall Of Fame

Elected for his "eloquence" to a three-year term, another honor arrives for the master of many musical disciplines

Philip Merrill

GRAMMYs

Jul 2, 2018 - 3:56 pm

Nile Rodgers is not lacking in attainments. The three-time GRAMMY winner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2016 and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and earlier this year the Library of Congress announced Rodgers' 1978 Chic classic "Le Freak" has been inducted into the National Recording Registry for preservation. On July 2 the Songwriters Hall Of Fame announced its new board and the unanimous election of Nile Rodgers to a three-year term as the organization's Chairman of the Board.

"Nile is respected and admired by his fans and his peers alike for his multi/cross-genre music and for being a musical pioneer," said SHOF President/CEO Linda Moran. "More importantly, Nile's eloquence in talking about songwriting and its process makes him the ideal voice for the songwriting community as Chairman of the SHOF."

Indeed, Rodger's eloquence is multi-faceted and very in-demand. In April, he also became the first-ever Chief Creative Advisor for Abbey Road Studios.

"I am truly honored and beyond humbled to be elected by such an esteemed group as this illustrious board," Rodgers said. "I will try and serve with all my heart. I hope I can make you half as proud of me as I am to even sit in the room with you who've done so much for the furtherance of composition. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve the songwriting community."

His seat at the head of the table is alongside GRAMMY nominee Desmond Child ("Livin' La Vida Loca"), GRAMMY winner Don Schlitz (The Gambler") and the legendary Paul Williams, who shared in Rodgers' Album Of The Year win at the 56th GRAMMY Awards for Daft Punk's Random Access Memories and is also President/Chairman of ASCAP. Those are just the well-known names from this behind-the-scenes profession and Rodgers' other fellow board members, some of whom contribute greatly to the Recording Academy by their participation, are equally inspiring of humility.

Interviewed at the 57th GRAMMY Awards, Rodgers told us his health issues clarified for him that music is "the most precious thing in my life." Many people feel that way and only very few have accomplished so much to nurture the sensation in others. His next album with Chic arrives Sept. 14. Onward!

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