THE 35TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS : Clapton Gets His Due, New Bloods Too : POP/ROCK : Some Class Acts Make It a Heavenly Night for the Grammys

N ot bad.

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has been a popular whipping post ever since the organization held its first Grammy ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 1959.

Time and again . . . and again, the academy voters ignored the radical new forces that reshaped contemporary pop music--read rock ‘n’ roll--in favor of more conventional artists with mainstream accessibility.

The embarrassments continued up to this year’s nomination of Billy Ray Cyrus’ lightweight “Achy Breaky Heart” in the best record category.

And a victory by Cyrus for that record--despite its umpteen million sales--would have given the recording academy a real achy breaky heartache.

But it was clear early in the evening that Cyrus wasn’t going to give the academy another black eye--and neither was anything else.

By the time the coveted best record award was handed out in the l-o-n-g program, Cyrus had already lost in two lesser categories--best new artist and best male country singer.

You almost felt sorry for the native of Flatwoods, Ky., as he sat anxiously in his aisle seat at the Shrine Auditorium as the camera panned his way throughout the evening. After all, he didn’t nominate “Achy Breaky Heart” in the best record category.

Chances are, he, too, felt Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” deserved to win.

Some of the Grammy choices were excellent, notably k.d. lang’s victory for female pop vocal and the socially conscious Georgia rap group Arrested Development in the best new artist balloting.

But the lasting memory of this year’s awards ceremony may have rested in the heartwarming moments it gave us.

It was a foregone conclusion by the time the ceremony started that Clapton would ride to victory on the back of the warmly sentimental “Tears in Heaven,” the song that he wrote (with Will Jennings) after the accidental death in 1991 of his 4-year-old son.

But one sensed the series of standing ovations that Clapton received Wednesday was for more than that song . . . or the acoustic “Unplugged” album on which it appeared.

Clapton’s sweep was, in large measure, a pay-back for all the years of Grammy neglect. Though the English rock guitarist is one of the most respected and influential musicians of the modern pop era, he was one of the countless artists--from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix--who were ignored during the ‘60s.

As a member of Cream and the Yardbirds, Clapton, through his inspired guitar playing, helped demonstrate that pure musicianship could be as vital a force in rock ‘n’ roll as songs or commanding vocals.

From this perspective, it was easy to join in the ovation for Clapton. There’s no injustice in seeing six Grammys on his shelf--even if he deserved them more for his ‘60s and early ‘70s work than the music for which he was honored Wednesday.

He made the awards even more satisfying because of the way he handled himself on stage--with grace and humility.

There’s something about the intimacy of pop music that enables us to relate to them more closely than we do to actors--maybe it’s the confessional edge in such songs as “Tears in Heaven,” where we feel they are sharing more of themselves than just their art.

Clapton lived up to our best expectations Wednesday--trying to make light at first of his unfolding sweep by joking that another record deserved to win because it had been No. 1 longer. Eventually, he succumbed to the emotion of the evening, sharing his intimacy with us in the most gentle and revealing way: He told us again of his love for his son.

Another special moment was contributed by Michael Jackson. The pop icon may have set a record in 1983 for the most Grammys ever won in a single year (eight), but he never stood taller than Wednesday when he didn’t retreat from the camera or hide behind shy, nervous nods.

Sensing the affection and interest generated by his Oprah Winfrey TV appearance, Jackson spoke to another national TV audience--and this time tried to tell us more about himself and his feelings than he sometimes even puts in his records.

If there was a Grammy award for pop courage, he would have won it at the Shrine.

Not good .

It’s important in saluting Wednesday’s ceremony to remember that the list of Grammy winners, at least in pop and rock, did not represent the most distinguished or important music of 1992.

The dignity of Clapton and Jackson diverted attention from what on other nights would have stood out as glaring misjudgments--starting with the loss of U2’s exquisite “Achtung Baby” to “Unplugged” in the best album competition and running all the way through the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ victory over Nirvana in the hard rock field.

The Grammys still have trouble pinpointing the most vital currents of popular music. This year, they were simply lucky enough to have saluted some class acts.

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