Grace Jones and Rick James at the Grammy Awards, 1983
 
One of my really awful guilty pleasures (I also love the band Rush, but I don’t judge and neither should you), is watching awards shows. I know, I know, they’re stupid, and that my street cred just went out to the dumpster to smoke cigarettes with Milli Vanilli. I’m okay with that.
 

Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith of the Monkees at the Grammy Awards, 1968. The band was up for two awards for “I’m a Believer” (Group Vocal Performance and Contemporary Vocal Group), but lost both times to The Fifth Dimension’s “Up Up and Away.”
 

It does not get much cooler than this: Alice Cooper and Stevie Wonder at the Grammy Awards, 1974
 

Boy George and a friend at the Grammy’s in 1984
 

Debbie Harry and George Burns, 1980
 

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at a Grammy party in New York, 1968
 
Many of our readers will recall a time that the Grammy Awards were actually fun to watch and the accolades from National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (or NARAS) went to people with real talent. Like everyone here at DM, I’m a huge fan of all kinds of music, so before I get bashed for being out of touch, let’s clear something up. In the words of Public Enemy vocalist, Chuck D, “Who gives a fuck about a Goddamn Grammy?” because NARAS (with occasional notable exceptions like Kendrick Lamar this year) stopped giving them to people who deserved them a long time ago.
 

This is what real talent looks like: David Bowie, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Roberta Flack, 1975.
 
But as I’ve digressed to the top of my soapbox again, let’s get back to the point of this post which is to help remind us all how damn cool the Grammy’s used to be. Like when Alice Cooper hung out with Stevie Wonder after he received his Grammy award in 1974 for Innervisions. Or when Grace Jones walked the red carpet with super freak, Rick James (pictured at the top of this post). I could go on and on, but I’m going to let the pictures in this post do the rest of the talking. 
 

Johnny Cash and author Shel Silverstein at the Grammy’s, 1970. Cash won the category, Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for “A Boy Named Sue,” which was composed by Silverstein.
 

Fleetwood Mac at the Grammy’s in 1978 where they won Album Of The Year for ‘Rumors.’
 

Aretha Franklin with her Grammy Award for her cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” 1972
 

Elton John, Diana Ross and Cher, 1975
 

Iggy Pop on his way into the Grammy’s, 1989
 

Louis Armstrong and David Clayton Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears 1970. Blood, Sweat & Tears won Album of the Year
 

Ted Nugent and Adam Ant, 1982. I’m as surprised as Adam Ant on this one.
 

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics at the Grammy’s, 1984. The super-duo lost the award for “Best New Artist” to Culture Club.
 

Harry Nilsson with the Grammy he won for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male for “Everybody’s Talkin’’ 1969
 

Ringo Starr, Linda Ronstadt, and Paul Williams at the Grammy’s, 1977. Ronstadt won the Grammy for Best Pop Female Vocalist for her album ‘Hasten Down the Wind’
 

The self-titled album Carpenters in 1971 went platinum four times and earned the duo a Grammy award
 

Ad-Rock and Mike-D of the Beastie Boys arriving at the Grammy’s with their boom box, 1987
 

KISS and Tupac Shakur, 1996
 

Actress/singer Helen Reddy and Alice Cooper trade jokes about Alice’s snake, feminism and sex at the Grammy Awards in 1974. It’s a pure shot of happiness.