January 4, 1995
Web posted at: 6:30 a.m. EST
From Entertainment Correspondent Mark Scheerer
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The annual Grammy nominations have been announced, and it's now a waiting game for the music industry's hottest stars.
If you want to keep tabs on the possible winners, you should start getting to know some new faces, starting with Alanis Morrisette. The Canadian singer garnered an impressive six Grammy nominations on the strength of her first major label release, "Jagged Little Pill."
Morrisette is closely followed by another new face: Joan Osborne, who nabbed five nominations. The Kentucky-bred, New York-based singer got best album and best new artist nods as well as record of the year and song of the year nominations for "One of Us."
Osborne and Morrisette are just two of the crop of new names popping up on the nomination list. Rapper Coolio's update of a Stevie Wonder song, "Gangsta's Paradise," (68K AIFF sound or 68K WAV sound) got a nod for possible record of the year, and Nashville newcomer Shania Twain earned four nominations. Singer D'angelo, who saw his hit song "Brown Sugar" get three nominations, was understandably excited.
"I daydreamed about it, kind of like a dream," he said, "but never realistically thought about it or realistically expected it."
Why so many new faces this year? The reason may be a result of Recording Academy efforts to make the major Grammy categories less a measure of popularity, and more based on artistic merit. According to Recording Academy president Michael Greene, that specific change is reflected in this year's nominees.
Nonetheless, established music names are stilling garnering their share of attention. Pop vocalist Mariah Carey got six nominations, including album of the year for "Daydream" and record of the year for "One Sweet Day." (102K AIFF sound or 102K WAV sound) Michael Jackson, winner of 12 career Grammys, is also a nominee for album and song of the year with "You are Not Alone."
And not all the newer faces were a hit with the Recording Academy. Despite Hootie and the Blowfish's hugely successful album "Cracked Rear View," the band only received only two nods, including best new artist.
In the R&B field, Babyface was nominated five times, including a nod for producer of the year. He was on hand at the Los Angeles Grammy news conference, and was caught a bit off guard.
"I didn't know about the nominations when I was up there," Babyface said. "I didn't find out until somebody came out and said that I had five nominations, so that was cool."
But despite the slew of new faces and songs, the bigger story this year has been the unprecedented showering of nominations on female artists. Besides Morrisette, Carey, and Osborne, the group TLC got four nominations, including record of the year for "Waterfalls." (221K AIFF sound or 221K WAV sound)
And when the Grammys are handed out in Los Angeles on February 28, we'll know if Recording Academy voters really believe 1995 was -- musically speaking -- the year of the woman, or the year of new faces.
List of Grammy nominees
American Recordings
Ultimate Record Label List
Grammy Awards Home Page
Music World III
Bandnet
Country Connection
Internet Music Pages
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