Singles Going Steady: Get up, stand up for Marley

[VIDEO] The music world is still talking about last weekend’s Grammy Awards telecast — just not specifically about the winners who came home with hardware.

Mike Devlin / Times Colonist
February 15, 2013

Recording artists Sting, Ziggy Marley, Bruno Mars and Rihanna at the 55th annual Grammy Awards.

The music world is still talking about last weekend’s Grammy Awards telecast — just not specifically about the winners who came home with hardware.

For years, the Grammys has made its name with once-in-a-lifetime performances. This year, the 55th edition, offered no break from tradition, especially when celebrating musicians who died.

Among the highlights: Chuck D, LL Cool J and others paying tribute to Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch; and jazz giants Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Kenny Garrett feting one of their own, pianist Dave Brubeck. Placed squarely alongside the best of the broadcast was a spirited tribute to Bob Marley, the reggae icon who would have turned 68 on Feb. 8.

A video of the Marley tribute kicks off this week’s round-up of the newest and most notable videos to hit the Internet. Get up, stand up — it’s time for Singles Going Steady.

1. Bob Marley Tribute, Could You Be Loved

An all-star group led by Bruno Mars, Sting, Rihanna and two of the reggae legend’s sons, Damian and Ziggy, closed a reggae-fied segment of the Grammy telecast with Could You Be Loved, one of the biggest hits by Bob Marley and the Wailers. You can expect to hear the tune next Friday in Victoria thanks to that very same backing band, The Wailers, who land in the Garden City for a hotly anticipated performance at Club 9ONE9. With most of the original members dead and buried, the conch has been passed to bassist Aston [Family Man] Barrett, who is keeping the Wailers’ legacy alive and well in 2013.

2. Sound City Players, You Can’t Fix This

By adding the title of documentarian to his list of talents — one that already includes singer, guitarist, drummer and curator of all things eternally cool — Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has become a renaissance man without equal. The popular rocker is looking at March 12 for the release of Sound City: Real to Reel, his directorial debut about the legendary Los Angeles recording studio which gave birth to some of the biggest records in rock history. He put together a red-hot group for the purpose of the film, members of which joined him for a spirited Wednesday performance on the Late Show With David Letterman. Grohl and his mates backed Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks for a spin through the new single, You Can’t Fix This, sounding every bit the full-fledged group.

3. Adele, Skyfall

If the results of the Golden Globe Awards are to be believed — there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say — Adele is a lock for a best original song Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24. Not that it would be a stretch to see the biggest-selling artist of the past two years win a trophy for the powerful ballad, a Shirley Bassey-sounding throwback from the latest James Bond film; Adele proves once again that nobody does it better. Making matters even more interesting, she will perform Skyfall for the first time at the awards ceremony as part of a 50th anniversary to the man they simply call Bond.

4. Nick Cave, We No Who U R

The booming bad boy of pitch-black indie rock returns with another five-star full-length, Push the Sky Away. Recorded with his exemplary backing band, the Bad Seeds, the Australian is in fine form on album No. 15, a simmering stew that is due to arrive in stores and online Tuesday. There’s a bit of bad news to report: Push the Sky Away is the first Cave effort in decades without contributions from guitarist Mick Harvey, who stepped aside not-so-amicably after almost 40 years with Cave. Despite his exit, the recording soars. Get it in your collection ASAP.

5. The Pharcyde, Drop

The Pharcyde — one of the great missing-in-action acts of the rap world — still isn’t back to being its bad self, but there’s hope at the end of the tunnel. With two of the group’s four rappers (Bootie Brown and Imani) at the helm nowadays, at least part of the band is back on the road and headed for Victoria next week. The Pharcyde will be joined by Cityreal, DJ Verse and DJ Squantos on Wednesday at Club 9ONE9, a date that already has fans of the Cali rap group buzzing big-time. When the duo unveils Drop, one of its most beloved songs, the diehards will go warp-speed nuts.