Should ‘Get Lucky’ Have Gotten Lucky

Every so often at the Oliver Rawlings blog I like to step back from the current affairs and explore pop culture. With the Grammy Awards airing last night, I wanted to take this post to ask, should ‘Get Lucky’ have gotten lucky?

I’m asking this because Get Lucky; the Daft Punk collaboration with Nile Rodgers and Pharrell won one of the ultimate gongs; Record of the Year.

This wasn’t the only time Daft Punk got lucky on the night.  The tracks album, Random Access Memories, took home the prestigious Album of the Year award. However one of the night’s other top gongs, Song of the Year, went to New Zealand starlet Lordes for her mega hit ‘Royals.’

So what I want to ask is did get lucky deserve to indeed get lucky? Well we always knew it had the makings of a mega hit. It was the collaboration between three of the most successful acts in modern music history. Nile Rodgers in particular has been the moving force behind many hits; perhaps most notably Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin.’

So when it came out, you might have imagined that such a dream team would fall flat on its face; mega collaborations that are hyped up are often disappointments.

However this certainly wasn’t the case with Get Lucky. It was a monster hit. It topped charts all over the world, it made a lot of money and it entered the hearts and minds of people everywhere. It could very well be a top contender for the most successful record commercially in 2013.

However the Grammy’s aren’t just about commercial success. Time and time again commercial success actually hinders an acts crusade to score a Grammy; it’s almost as though they see commercial success as a badge of dishonor; as though they’re no longer worthy of being cool.

However Get Lucky wasn’t just a commercial success; it was also a critical one.  Critics around the world went crazy for it. If we’re being honest only ‘Royals’ itself saw as much critical acclaim as Get Lucky did.

So it appears that the Grammy’s really did get it right for once, and this time they actually managed to pick a track that is both critically and commercially successful. Here’s hoping that trend continues!