But There’ll Be a Lot Less Traffic

If the annual “battle” between Los Angeles and New York over the Grammys seemed awfully quiet this year, there’s a reason: There was no battle.

The Burbank-based National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences was so disappointed with Los Angeles’ handling of this year’s Grammy activities that it didn’t ask L.A. to bid on the 1994 Grammy Awards.

The low point for the academy was when the City Council voted to charge the academy for $60,000 in traffic-security fees at the Shrine Auditorium, where the telecast was held in February. Though the vote was later reversed, academy president Mike Greene says it was the final nail in the coffin for L.A.’s chances in ’94.

“More than anything that was a symbol,” Greene says. “It showed that the City Council was so off in its thinking. You should do whatever you can to attract events that have cultural significance in the community.”

Irving Azoff, the Giant Records CEO who serves as chairman of the Los Angeles Grammy Host Committee, is committed to finding a non-music-business executive to help boost L.A.’s bidding, someone of the stature of Loews Hotels President Jonathan Tisch, who is generally credited as the catalyst for New York’s strong Grammy bids.