THE YEAR THAT WAS:  A Look Back at the Music and Events of 2001

by Kristi Kates

Year Two Thousand and One.  What a year.  As we really began to dig into

the  21st century, we were faced with things both glorious and

disillusioning.

And this year's music was no exception.  Right along with the year's batch of

terrific albums, new artists, and amazing live performances came more

one-hit wonders, several band breakups, the loss of a number of great

musicians, and, of course, the devastating events of September 11th.

The bad came with the good, but the good also came with the bad - in a

country that's more unified than ever, even the entertainment community

rallied forth, with benefit concerts, special events, donations, volunteer

time, and a heartfelt desire to help simultaneously distract and bring hope

to all of us left with so many questions and so much sorrow.

Music and art may not prevent terrorism, bring back those who were lost, or

repair buildings, but it does show the quality of the human spirit to

persevere in spite of all of those things, showing the individuality and

creativity that does, in fact, make us who we are.

And who we are is a wide, glorious range of things, as you'll see from this

look at the music that we listened to, drove to, objected to,

worked to, cried to, danced to, and lived to in 2001.

JANUARY:  In addition to all of the New Year's parties, some of them

claiming to be the "real" start of the new millennium, and some just

celebrating the new year as usual, 2001 started off with a bang for those

who loved sports, classic rock, and teen-pop.

In an odd cross-genres match-up that somehow managed to work, Super Bowl

XXXV saw the likes of N'Sync, Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Nelly, and Mary J.

Blige take the stage at the big game's halftime show, in a show produced by

(of course) MTV that knocked the sweatsocks off of everyone watching.

Full of energy, sass, and a sense of fun, this Super Bowl halftime show was

almost worth sitting through the game for. Meanwhile, the American Music

Awards dubbed Creed their top Alternative Music Artist, and the

entertainment industry began gearing up early for the Academy Awards in

March.

FEBRUARY:  Britney's appearance at the Super Bowl must have paid off for

the teen diva.  In an unprecedented business move for someone of her age,

Miss Spears was handed a global marketing deal with Pepsi Cola that would

surprise everyone - especially when she was seen drinking a Coke (gasp!)

only a couple of months later.

Another female diva, Jennifer Lopez, shifted her moniker to "J.Lo," and,

this month, got quite a valentine of her own, as she scored both the top

grossing film ("The Wedding Planner") and top album ("J.Lo") in spite of

her questionable talent in both genres.

On the West Coast, San Francisco played host to the 9th annual Noise Pop

Festival, featuring up-and-coming acts Girls Against Boys, Creeper Lagoon,

and The Fastbacks.

MARCH:  Britney may have things in the palm of her hand now, but true beach

bums know that the Land of the Palm Trees is really ruled by the most

classic of pop artists - The Beach Boys, whose talented, eclectic leader,

Brian Wilson, was feted at Radio City Music Hall in New York City this

month with "The All Star Tribute to Brian Wilson."  Brian's songwriting

skills were shown to have influenced multiples genres, as shown by the

show's varied roster - Paul Simon, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Matthew Sweet,

Billy Joel, The Go-Gos, and Ricky Martin all showed up to pay tribute.

IN Canada, the yearly Juno Awards were held, with singer Nelly Furtado

grabbing top honors, even as she just begins to make headway on the

American charts.  At the Academy Awards, Bob Dylan won Best Original Song

in a Motion Picture for "Things Have Changed" from the film "Wonder Boys."

APRIL:  Diva Mariah Carey leaves long-time label home Columbia Records this

month, resigning with Virgin Records - but in spite of her diva-dom, this

move is way overshadowed by the loss of The Ramone's Joey Ramone, who

passed away on April 15th.

JUNE:  Another month, another awards show - this month saw the Jammy Awards

take place, with top honors going to perennial jammers Phish, who won for

Studio Album of the Year ("Farmhouse") and for Best Live Performance of the

Year.

JULY:  Country-rockers Wilco leave Reprise Records after the label rejects

their latest album; Wilco goes on to ink new deal with Nonesuch Records.

Internet file-swapping site Napster is ordered closed - and is then granted

an "emergency motion for a stay" 7 days later, which allows them to reopen

the controversial site.  Rumors surface that Bob Dylan will be writing his

own multi-volume biography.  And Americans everywhere celebrate the 4th of

July with fireworks, concerts, and barbeques.

AUGUST:  Teen superstars N'Sync release their latest album, "Celebrity,"

which sells a whopping 1.88 million copies in its first week of release.

Danish popsters Aqua break up.  And the world loses talented R&B

singer-slash-actress Aaliyah in a tragic plane crash.

SEPTEMBER:  September 11th.  The day that changes

everything.  The music community is only one small

part of the country that grinds to a halt while we 

question what's happened.  Tours and events are put

on hold as we try to help, to support, to understand,

any way we can, as our entire nation, and, indeed, 

much of the world, mourns.

The Concert for New York City features the likes of Paul McCartney, David

Bowie, Billy Joel, and The Who.  United We Stand presents Mariah Carey,

Train, Goo Goo Dolls, N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, and Ricky  Martin.  New

Yorkers Against Violence features The Beastie Boys, The B-52's, Cibo Matto,

and Pakistani vocalist Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.  And, from our

neighbors in Canada, the Music Without Borders offers up performances and

support from Alanis Morissette, Bruce Cockburn, and the Tragically Hip.

America, however, doesn't quite know how to handle Halloween this year, as is

evidenced by the greatly subdued Halloween decorations, events, and

trick-or-treating across the country - homes are more often decorated with

American flags than with carved pumpkins.

NOVEMBER:  The country and the wheels of the entertainment industry pick up

just a little bit this month.  Things are still feeling awkward, but have

taken on at least some semblance of normalcy as events like the MTV Europe

Music Awards and the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards go on as planned.

At the Billboard Awards, animated band Gorillaz equally animated video for

their

tune "Clint Eastwood" wins top honors (3 awards) along with Fatboy Slim,

who also wins three awards at this event.

Tori Amos, Collective Soul, and Poe all depart their longtime home,

Atlantic Records, for new labels.

U.K. rock band Elastica breaks up.  And it's announced that the

Lollapalooza concert will likely return in the summer of 2002.

DECEMBER:  With the year nearly over, we look back on 2001 and see many

things.  In our CD collections, we've added great new albums from the likes

of Ben Folds, R.E.M., Weezer, Elton John, Incubus, Pink, Garbage, Sting,

Radiohead, Madonna, U2, Matchbox Twenty, Shaggy, Bjork, and No Doubt.

We've met a ton of new, talented artists, among them Staind, Alicia Keys,

The Strokes, Train, Nelly Furtado, Sigur Ros, Gorillaz, and Sum 41.

Our movie screens were graced by such films as "Brother, Where Art Thou,"

"Moulin Rouge," "Save the Last Dance," "A Knight's Tale," "Shrek," "Ocean's

Eleven," and the terrific music that accompanied them.

Yet the sadness that hit us in September nearly overshadows it all.  It

almost seems like the country is breathing a sigh of resigned relief that

this year is almost over.

What began as any other year has ended on a bittersweet note - far more

bitter than sweet, of course; but having our country as unified, caring,

patriotic, determined, and simply American as it has become over the past

few months proves to be at least one small glimmer of hope amidst the

things that have

happened.

We may have had the volume temporarily turned down on our collective radio,

but we cannot and will not have that radio be unplugged - our music will

shine, our art will shine, and, most importantly, our people will shine

throughout the last few weeks of 2001 and throughout the years to come.

Have a great New Year, everyone.