Brits, Brats and Godlike Geniuses

The New Year will see both the Brit and NME awards poised to reward the great and good of the music scene but ultimately, aren’t award ceremonies by their very nature quite ridiculous? Music is subjective and the idea that an album is better or worse due to an award or lack thereof is fatuous. It’s less about art/music and more about industry backslapping, careerism and a ticket to celebrity-ville. To quote Morrissey, “award ceremonies in pop music are dreadful to witness and are simply a way of the industry warning the artist ‘see how much you need us.’”

Apparently the Manic Street Preachers are in line to receive the NME’s Godlike Genius award in 2008. Speaking to NME, bassist Nicky Wire said: “We’ve won four Brit Awards, Ivor Novellos, but it’s vindication. It feels like the best one because the NME is what I grew up with and for all its faults it still means a lot to me. It’s so fucking brilliant, honestly. It’s really made me feel fantastic.””

This from a man who once said “if we ever get a Brit award, I'm gonna get my dick out, piss on it and tell them to shove it up their arse.” I realise that this refers to a different award ceremony and the NME’s Brat Awards has traditionally offered an alternative to the mainstream, but tellingly it’s now called the Shockwaves NME Awards. Of course, people are entitled to change their minds as they age and mellow but I’d love to see a band adopt the latter stance and not play the industry game (simply refusing to turn up would suffice rather than actioning Nicky’s rather more graphic threat.) Plenty of bands claim to be “just about the music” – prove it then.