[FM] Re: A Wammie-Race and a Long Tale

[Tom Neff]

I'm very happy for the Kennedys - they are great, I really like them, and
EVOLVER sounds like a cool new thing.

Having said this, WAMA gave out (by my count) a total of 109 awards this
year.  And this is just for acts in the DC area, mind you, not nationally,
not really even regionally, just an extended metro market.

When Pete & Maura Kennedy released RIVER OF FALLEN STARS in 1995, they won
six or seven Wammies in as many categories.  (Pete had already collected a
dozen Wammies solo over the previous decade.)  When they released LIFE IS
LARGE in 1996, they won another six or seven Wammies for that.

In 1998, when they didn't even have a new album out, I think they still won
two or three Wammies.  Now for the 1999 awards, they are "big winners"
indeed: their total Wammie count, individual and as a group, is up to 42.

Are the Wammies trapped in award inflation or what?  It seems to me that if
you have lived and performed professionally in the DC area for more than 5
years, and you don't have at least ONE Wammie to show for it, you should
probably quit the business!  And that if you live there and actually sell
some records, like Mary-Chapin Carpenter or the Kennedys, you'd better rent
mini-storage for your award plaques.

Gee, a rant from me, what else is new.  But really, think about it.
Remember the Caucus-Race from Alice in Wonderland?
 http://www.cs.indiana.edu/metastuff/wonder/ch3.html ) The Dodo was hip:
"EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes."