Congratulations to all of the fantastic artists who were chosen as Grammy winners last night! Songlines is pleased to have played a small part in the success of the albums by these winners:

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: Album of the Year
Cee Lo Green, “Fuck You”: Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Patty Griffin, Downtown Church: Best Traditional Gospel Album
Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone: Best Americana Album
Ray LaMontagne, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise: Best Contemporary Folk Album

And yes, we continue to delight in working in a radio format that allowed us to contribute to campaigns for both the year’s Best Traditional Gospel Album and an eminently catchy song called “Fuck You.”

Though we had little to nothing to do with the success of these winners, we were still thrilled for them because they’re great:
The Black Keys, “Tighten Up”: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
John Legend & the Roots, Wake Up!: Best R&B Album
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Grupo Fantasma, El Existential: Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album

We were also very happy for our good pal Lisa Sonkin, who got an acceptance-speech shout-out from Train!

Let’s all hope that this year’s Grammy performances, winners and nominees suggest a glimmer of hope for the future.

The Grammys take place this Sunday night. In honor of Grammy week, we’re revisiting Stephen Colbert‘s hilarious segment in which he fills out his Grammy ballot. (He gets to vote this year because he won the award for Best Comedy Album last year.) Of the categories, he seemed most interested in Best Alternative Album, and invited nominees Vampire Weekend and the Black Keys onto the show to compete for his vote.

In 1970 and ’71, Life sent young photographer John Olson to London, San Francisco, and many places in between to capture shots of rock stars with their parents. A majority of the photos were taken in the homes in which the future icons grew up. They’re beautifully composed, touching, and wacky–and the period decor is outstanding. The photos are now up on Life‘s web site, and they’re well worth a slide show.