But she was allowed to listen to Loretta, even though "she got married when I think she was maybe thirteen or fourteen and she was pregnant at thirteen. So a lot of her songs in her book had to do with how she was stuck with all these kids when she was only a few years older than I was. It has this feminist quality where this woman who's sick of taking care of all of these kids, her husband running around on her and now it's her turn." Vowell's fave Lynn song is "The Pill," and she continues:

My family was very religious. I wasn't allowed to listen to Kiss because they were supposedly satanic. And then years later I would listen to a song like "Beth" by Kiss and it's just this little bubble gum love song. And I wasn't allowed to listen to that but I was allowed to listen to this Loretta Lynn song about, you know, getting hot pants and taking oral contraceptives.

Some people may find Vowell unconscionably annoying (from the Times's hilarious review of her most recent book: "[Vowell is] double-annoying, because she styles herself as annoying — provocative-annoying — and if you become annoyed by her you seem to be conceding the point. She’s gotten to you.") So while our enjoyment of her comedy stylings may, in fact, be NPR-related Stockholm Syndrome, we're still amused by her description of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" as "a fairly smutty song, to celebrate the birth of Jesus."

Sarah Vowell [KCRW]
Mayflower Power [NYT]

The Good:
Loretta Lynn is, obviously, a law unto herself and this is how we like to see her: Regal, adorable, with just a hint of underlying steel.

Songwriter Madi Diaz has a great dress, cute date.

I'm no Strokes apologist, and I can't say I've ever given guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. much thought beyond thinking that if you were going to do lead vocals in one song, "Last Nite" was a good one to have chosen. But he looks very dapper here. And, more to the point, warms the heart supporting his father, songwriter Albert Hammond, Sr.

Singer Lee Ann Womack looks crisp, extremely excited in white.

John Legend doing John Legend, convincingly.

The Bad:

Now, you could certainly mount the "Loretta Lynn" defense here: that Joan Jett is a law unto herself, not to be held to normal standards. I took this into account, though, and still thought she looked kinda creepy last night.

I, too, would probably use my hair as an impromptu tucker (that's the 19th c term for a little bodice cover-up) were I revealing the amount of cleavage of Johnny Rzeznik's date.

I thought long and hard about this one, because Natasha Bedingfield's getup is certainly not terrible, even leaving aside my expressed aversion for the color combination of purple and red, her unfortunate stance. Ultimately what damned her was the general disharmony of accessories, and a certain "offness" of proportion - the skirt was just slightly too long for that boat neck. (As a short person, I am obsessive about hemming. It can make or break, people! Half an inch!)

The Ugly:

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… The band Rouge.

"'Loretta Lynn's songs have squarely addressed real-life situations faced by many women, and she's used her artistry to deal openly with themes like loyalty, divorce, desire and women's role in society before others in country music,' Berklee President Roger Brown said."

We're especially delighted for Loretta, as we jump at any chance to bring you this:

Next up: Dolly. If there's any justice in this world.

[The Coal Miner's Doctor]