Brits 2015

I'll be honest I gave up having any interest in the Brits years ago.  The whole thing is a rubbish excuse for a load of people to trot out the same gushing acceptance speech or one of the enfant terrible of the day (Oasis, Arctic Monkeys) to dismiss the award (which they are still there picking up you notice...) and then ruining a perfectly good Shure mic by throwing it to the floor in an act of rebellion (emphasis on the act) that a 60s Townshend or 70s Vicious would wet themselves laughing at.

Today this article from the Guardian appeared in my news feed.  If you can't be bothered to read it it is titled.
"If James Bay is getting a Brit award, is it time for us to shout ‘not in my name’? "

The author claims " I’ve never met anyone – anyone – who has ever said they liked James Bay." Well I think he is ok - quite good actually so I'll go into the bracket that likes him. Then they go on about Adele, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith being "The New Boring".  Ok they may not be driving musical frontiers forward but then when did Robbie Williams ever do that?  He holds the most Brits ever I believe.  Oasis who in my humble opinion never wrote an original tune in their career everything sounding like something I'd heard before often swaggered up in the old days to stick two fingers up (not really) at the industry that gave them luxury houses and cars and a bar bill to envy Oliver Read.  Is the point of The Brits to showcase new avant garde genres?  I've never seen that before - I think the first ever Brits single of the year was Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street - good song, blinding guitar and sax solo but really... not exactly ground breaking other than many subsequent hits in the following few years gave good session fees to Alto Sax players.

I listen to Ed Sheeran and Adele, less Sam Smith but I can't deny in an industry where just making a living is getting harder for performers these people still "shift units".  Sam Smith is the only artist who in 2014 sold a million units of his album in both the UK and USA.  It may not be new or clever but if he is the only one to have done that it does tell you that it is popular.

So I'm confused as to what the point of the article is about.  The Brits never were this radical entrepreneurial showcase that the author seems to aspire to.  To be honest if you listen to the early evening Radio 2 slots - Blues, Folk, Jazz I'd wager you'd hear more originality in those "old genres" than an entire day of listen to Radio 1 - which I can't do any more if I'm honest I just have to turn off before long.  I'll point any readers to False Lights a new folk rock band who use samples in a new and innovative way for that style.  But... I can't see them ever being in a hundred miles of a Brit award ceremony...   But they may well get a "Furtheron" in 2015 for their efforts.