The Grammies make me feel like Grampy

My family and I are suckers for a good awards show—Golden Globes, Oscars, or People's Processed Cheese Awards, it doesn't matter, we're there. So last night, it was hardly a shocker to find us in front of the idiot cube, cradling a little cherry pie a la mode in our laps, firing up the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

As the show began, a list of the evening's presenters and performers scrolled down the screen. My wife and I recognized, roughly, thirty percent of the names, while our daughters gazed upon the offering, exclaiming "Yes! Taylor Swift!" or "Justin Bieber! I love him!"

My kids seemed to know the words to every song mentioned or performed, other than the country variety. Jamie Foxx, who apparently has added the title of hip hop artist to his résumé, took the stage and launched into some, at least to me, indecipherable rhymes, working the crowd into a frenzy. I glanced to my right, where my fourteen-year-old daughter sat, rapping along with every word. More and more performers joined Foxx on stage, adding to the din, and soon, I couldn't make out a single word. It was the audible equivalent of one of my dad's Thursday night crock pot casseroles. My teenager didn't miss a beat; I won't say she sang along, because it really wasn't a song, but she talked along effortlessly and enthusiastically.

I thought to myself, "When I was a teenager, did I know all the words to every song performed and awarded at the Grammies?" The answer was as simple as rubbing that genie bottle known as "The Google." I accessed a list Grammy Award winners for the 1977 show, way back when I was a spry buck of fourteen years. Here are some highlights:

Record of the Year—"Hotel California," by The Eagles
Album of the Year—"Rumours," by Fleetwood Mac
Song of the Year—"You Light Up My Life," by Debbie Boone
Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus—"How Deep Is Your Love," by The Bee Gees
Best Rhythm and Blues Song—"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," by Leo Sayer
Best Country Song—"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," by Crystal Gayle

Okay, that's just a sampling. And at first I thought I had googled the wrong list; this one looks more like the White, Middle-Aged Adult Easy Listening Awards. Leo Sayer actually received best R & B song? Wow. I was expecting to see some Stevie Wonder, or maybe Earth, Wind and Fire.  And come on, how does Pat Boone's kid score a Grammy, with ABBA in their prime?

Overall, a bit disappointing, but after examining each and every award-winning pop song from 1977, I came to one inescapable conclusion:

I knew the words.