Adams To Perform At Upcoming Juno Presentation

TORONTO–Ending recent rumors that Bryan Adams would not be appearing on the televised Juno Awards show, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has announced he will perform at the upcoming 21st annual ceremony March 29 here.

Adams’ manager, Bruce Allen, had indicated several times earlier that the Vancouver-based performer might boycott the awards over his dissatisfaction with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s controversial ruling last fall that the songs on his current A&M album, “Waking Up The Neighbours,” did not satisfy Canadiancontent regulations. Adams will, however, miss the Grammy Awards Feb. 25 in New York due to tour commitments in Japan.

The Canadian presentation will be hosted by film star and former CHUM announcer Rick Moranis, Tom Cochrane, Crash Test Dummies, and country singer George Fox, who will also entertain. Additional performers will be named at a later date, including those participating in a tribute to the folk/country duo Ian & Sylvia, which is being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“We don’t follow the Canadian-content guidelines prescribed by the CRTC,” says Peter Steinmetz, president of the 1,400-member CARAS organization and executive producer of the event, explaining how Adams’ songs on “Waking Up The Neighbours” are eligible for the Junos under CARAS rules. “We find them restrictive. They regulate what broadcasters do and play; our academy promotes and congratulates excellence of achievement by Canadians. Could you imagine the Juno Awards with Bryan Adams not qualifying in several of the categories? I couldn’t.”

COCHRANE IN CONTENTION

Though Adams leads the pack of Juno nominees with six nominations in 33 categories, and “Waking Up The Neighbours” has chalked up domestic sales of some 550,000 units to date, the West Coast rocker is not a guaranteed shoo-in to sweep the awards. He is squarely head-to-head against five-time nominated singer/songwriter Cochrane in the album-ofthe-year, single-of-the-year, male-vocalist, songwriter, and producer categories. Though Adams has received sizable international stature in the past year, veteran Cochrane, with his “Mad Mad World” album notching up sales of 425,000 units to date, has been a big sales winner for Capitol-EMI Records Canada.

In a seeming Juno mishap, Toronto-based Cochrane, however, is excluded from the award for entertainer of the year, which has Adams, Blue Rodeo, Celine Dion, Colin James, and the Tragically Hip competing. Considering the heavily publicized competition between Cochrane and Adams for chart dominance throughout the fall, the omission is glaring. “It’s one of those areas which we are going to re-examine our cutoff dates,” concedes Steinmetz.

The release of Cochrane’s album missed the entertainer-of-the-year award’s eligibility period–from Jan. 1, 1990, to July 31, 1991. The eligibility period is limited for entertainer of the year because it is a double-round affair kicked off by a vote of CARAS’ membership followed by public balloting. The early cutoff had been deemed necessary to prepare and tabulate ballots. In contrast to the time span for entertainer of the year, Juno craft categories’ eligibility runs from Sept. 1, 1990, to Nov. 29, 1991; while in sales categories, the release eligibility is from Sept. 1, 1990, to Dec. 31, 1991, on sales from Nov. 1, 1990, to Dec. 31, 1991.

Another seeming omission is the Crash Test Dummies’ “Superman’s Song,” one of the most played Canadian tracks of the year, from the single-of-the-year category. Since the song was not released as a single to the public, a common occurrence today, it was not eligible for submission. The group, however, is represented in the best group, album, video, and album-design categories.

COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES

A number of categories promise a good fight Juno night. Among them are group of the year, which pits veteran act Rush against last year’s winner, Blue Rodeo, as well as Glass Tiger, the Tragically Hip, and the Crash Test Dummies; the rap-recording-of-the-year category, in which Maestro Fresh-Wes, Michie Mee & L.A. Luv, Dream Warriors, Kish, and Simply Majestic (featuring the Brothers From The Ghetto with Frank Morell) are competing; and the songwriter-of-the-year category, in which Bruce Cockburn, Shirley Eikhard, and Marc Jordan will try to knock off front-runners Cochrane and Adams.

With sizable cutbacks within the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. this past year, the upcoming Junos will likely be toned down from last year’s Vancouver affair in which the British Columbia provincial government kicked in additional funding to defray costs of holding the awards outside Toronto for the first time. “We had a great time working in Vancouver last year but I’m happy to be back home at the O’Keefe Center,” admits Juno producer Lynn Harvey, who has co-ordinated the past three presentations. “It’s easier when everything is just half a mile away.”

Here is a partial list of nominees:

Canadian entertainer: Bryan Adams, Blue Rodeo, Celine Dion, Colin James, the Tragically Hip.
Female vocalist: Lee Aaron, Celine Dion, Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlan, Mitsou.
Male vocalist: Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane, Bruce Cockburn, Maestro Fresh-Wes, Robbie Robertson. Group: Blue Rodeo, Crash Test Dummies, Glass Tiger, Rush, the Tragically Hip.
Album: “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” by the Crash Test Dummies (Arista/BMG); “Highlights From Phantom Of The Opera” by the Canadian Cast (Polydor/Polytel/PolyGram); “Mad Mad World” by Tom Cochrane (Capitol-EMI); “Road Apples” by the Tragically Hip (MCA); “Waking Up The Neighbours” by Bryan Adams (A&M).
Single: “Animal Heart” by Glass Tiger (Capitol-EMI); “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started” by Bryan Adams (A&M); “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams (A&M); “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane (Capitol-EMI); “Too Hot” by Alanis (MCA).
Most promising female vocalist: Alanis, Kerri Anderson, Julie Masse, Darby Mills, Chrissy Steele.
Most promising male vocalist: Stephen Fearing, Lennie Gallant, Keven Jordan, Glen Stace, Wild |T’.
Most promising group: Infidels, the Rankin Family, West End Girls, World On Edge, Young Saints.
Songwriter: Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane, Bruce Cockburn, Shirley Eikhard, Marc Jordan.
Foreign entertainer: Michael Bolton, Garth Brooks, Phil Collins, Hammer, Rod Stewart.
Best-selling album by a foreign artist: “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C&C Music Factory (Columbia); “Metallica” (Elektra); “The Razors Edge” by AC/DC (Atco); “Time, Love And Tenderness” by Michael Bolton (Columbia); and “To The Extreme” by Vanilla Ice (SBK).
Bestselling single by a foreign artist: “Black Or White” by Michael Jackson (Epic); “Enter Sandman” by Metallica; “Joyride” by Roxette (Capitol-EMI); “More Than Words” by Extreme (A&M); and “Unbelievable” by EMF (Capitol-EMI).
Hall of Fame Award: Ian & Sylvia. Walt Grealis Special
Achievement Award: Harold Moon.