GOOFIN’ AT THE GRAMMYS

Are the Grammy voters about to goof again?

“We Are the World” is the odds-on favorite to win top honors Tuesday night in the 28th annual Grammy Awards ceremony, yet the single was virtually shut out in a just-released poll of the nation’s leading pop and rock critics.

Village Voice music editor Doug Simmons said only a handful of the 238 writers--”less than two dozen”--put “We Are the World” on their list of last year’s 10 best singles.

By contrast, 101 critics named “Sun City,” the blistering anti-apartheid statement, as one of the year’s 10 best in the Voice-sponsored survey.

That total made “Sun City” the easy winner over Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love” and John Fogerty’s “Old Man Down the Road” in the competition, which is the closest thing in the pop world to the critical overview provided in the film community by such groups as the National Society of Film Critics. The Franklin and Fogerty singles finished in the Top 10 on 59 and 51 ballots, respectively.

Does this mean a “We Are the World” victory Tuesday (8 p.m., KCBS Channel 2) will represent yet another embarrassment for the conservative Grammy voters?

Those voters certainly have lots of skeletons in their closet, beginning with the choice of Domenico Modugno’s “Volare” as the record of the year in the first Grammy balloting in 1959, and stretching through such dubious entries as Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” and Christopher Cross’ “Sailing.”

But “We Are the World” won’t be another mistake. This time, it was the critics who goofed.

“Sun City”--with its inspired mix of rock, jazz, reggae, salsa and R&B; artists--may indeed have been the most captivating single of 1985; it finished in a first-place tie with “We Are the World” on my Voice ballot. But “Sun City” was released too late in 1985 to be eligible for this Grammy go-around.

That timing, in effect, leaves “Freeway of Love” as the critics’ choice for single of the year under the Grammy calendar, which ended last Sept. 30.

“Freeway” was a delightful, zesty record, but it was hardly a more distinguished single or meant more to pop music during 1985 than “We Are the World.”

The irony is that the critics, in snubbing “We Are the World,” lost track of the very factor that normally enables them to be better judges of pop achievement than the 6,000 Grammy voters: The tendency to view music as part of a broad sociological experience, rather than in narrow, technical terms.

As members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Grammy voters are involved in some “creative” aspect of the music business--from engineers to songwriters. But all too often they are hopelessly far removed from the cutting edge, rarely venturing beyond their particular areas of interest or hearing anything except massive best-sellers. Also, voters often seem to evaluate records in a sociological vacuum, as if any information outside of what actually comes through the speakers should be excluded from consideration.

That’s one reason Grammy voters have tended to lean to such hugely popular and well-designed, but otherwise unimportant records as “Love Will Keep Us Together” while failing to adequately acknowledge the contributions of essential innovators as Presley, Dylan, Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, the Who and Bowie.

At the same time, critics are often as guilty of overlooking quality in mainstream albums as Grammy voters are of neglecting outstanding achievement among maverick forces. And, it’s easy to dismiss “We Are the World” as too corny, too sentimental, too mainstream.

Still, “We Are the World”--however overexposed it may have been--was the record that both shaped and defined the Pop-as-Benefactor syndrome that was the pop story of 1985.

Though inspired itself by Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the record captured the imagination of both the musicians and the public, establishing the climate that made Bob Geldof’s Live Aid spectacular possible. Its acceptance also led musicians to unite again in behalf of the Farm Aid and Sun City projects.

It’s easy in retrospect to take “We Are the World” for granted, but it’s difficult not to see the results of that record.

But don’t confuse “We Are the World,” the record, with “We Are the World,” the album. It, too, was nominated for a Grammy, but the LP is so lackluster that you wonder how many of the 6,000 voters actually listened to it.

“We Are the World” is not a great album. It’s not a good album. You have to be in a generous mood to suggest it is even a mediocre album.

Aside from the title track, Springsteen’s spirited rendition of Jimmy Cliff’s “Trapped” and Prince’s poignant “4 the Tears in Your Eyes,” the LP is composed of undistinguished tracks whose only link was the fact that all the artists were donating their royalties.

The album didn’t get enough support in the Voice poll to make the top 40. But neither did two of the five other Grammy nominees for best album: Phil Collins’ “No Jacket Required” and Whitney Houston’s debut.

The other nominees, Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms” and Sting’s “The Dream of the Blue Turtles,” finished No. 20 and 21 respectively--though Sting’s collection deserves the clear nod over the Grammy field in terms of ambition and accomplishment.

So what albums did critics think were best in ‘85?

In a voting system that allows writers to award up to 30 points to their first choice and a minimum of five to their 10th choice, Talking Heads’ “Little Creatures” scored 1,078 points to the Replacements’ “Tim,” which registered 865 points and finished in the Top 10 on 82 ballots.

The rest of the Top 10, in order, and the number of points received:

John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Scarecrow” (637 points), Tom Waits’ “Rain Dogs” (607), “Sun City” (569), Husker Du’s “Flip Your Wig” (535), R.E.M.’s “Fables of the Reconstruction” (526), Husker Du’s “New Day Rising” (457), Aretha Franklin’s “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” (407) and John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” (392).

Colleague Paul Grein outlines in an adjoining column who he thinks will win in key categories Tuesday night. Here’s who I feel deserves to win.

Record: “We Are the World.” Album: Sting’s “The Dream of the Blue Turtles.” Song: “We Are the World.” New artist: Sade. Female Pop Vocal: Whitney Houston. Male Pop Vocal: Sting. Duo/Group Pop Vocal: USA for Africa. Female Rock Vocal: Tina Turner. Male Rock Vocal: John Fogerty. Duo/Group Rock Vocal: Eurythmics. Female R&B; Vocal: Patti LaBelle. Male R&B; Vocal: Stevie Wonder. Duo/Group R&B; Vocal: Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin. Female Country Vocal: Emmylou Harris. Male Country Vocal: Willie Nelson. Duo/Group Country Vocal: Johnny Cash/Waylon Jennings/Kris Kristofferson/Willie Nelson.