Taylor Swift's 1989 is only the seventh album in Grammy history—and the first by a female solo artist—to spawn two Record of the Year nominees. The album's lead single, the good-natured "Shake It Off," was nominated in that category last year. The sleek follow-up, "Blank Space," is a finalist this year. Max Martin and Shellback co-produced both smashes.
Here's a list of the six previous albums that have spawned two Record of the Year candidates. One or two may surprise you. Scratch that. One or two will definitely surprise you.
Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk: The socially-conscious "Where Is the Love?" (featuring Justin Timberlake) was a 2003 nominee. The party-minded "Let's Get It Started" was nominated the following year. will.i.am and Ron Fair co-produced "Where Is the Love?," which was a "What's Going On" for the hip-hop era. will.i.am did the honors by himself on "Let's Get It Started," which had the hook-hammering repetitiveness that would become a Peas trademark. The latter song was titled "Let's Get Retarded" when it first appeared on Elephunk. If they hadn't changed the title for the single release, it's highly doubtful that it would have been nominated for Record of the Year. (Incidentally, Elephunk is the only one of these seven albums that wasn't nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year.)
Green Day's American Idiot: The bratty post-punk classic "American Idiot" was a 2004 nominee. The power ballad "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was the 2005 winner. The band co-produced both singles with Rob Cavallo. 5 Seconds of Summer recorded "American Idiot" on their album LiveSOS.
U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind: The exhilarating "Beautiful Day" was the 2000 winner. The heartfelt "Walk On" won the following year. The latter song captured the wounded mood following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (though the album was released nearly a year before those events). Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois co-produced both singles.
Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life: "Higher Ground" was the 1986 winner. "Back in the High Life Again" was a nominee the following year. Chaka Khan was featured on backing vocals on the former song; James Taylor on the latter. Winwood and Russ Titelman co-produced both singles.
Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A.: The polished and pulsating "Dancing in the Dark" was a 1984 nominee. The anthemic title track was nominated the following year. Springsteen co-produced both singles with Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin and Steve Van Zandt. Cheech & Chong released a parody of "Born in the U.S.A." titled "Born in East L.A." Luke featuring 2 Live Crew released a politically charged version, "Banned in the U.S.A."
Flashdance soundtrack: Irene Cara's "Flashdance…What a Feeling" and Michael Sembello's "Maniac" were both 1983 nominees. Giorgio Moroder produced Cara's hit, which followed the ballad-opening to dance-thumper progression of Donna Summer's "Last Dance," which he had co-produced. Sembello and the late Phil Ramone co-produced the high-energy "Maniac." These two songs also squared off at the Oscars. "Flashdance" won.
Coming soon: Grein's Grammy picks in 34 categories.
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