Just How Important is the "Album of the Year" Grammy?

I note with interest that "Fearless" by Taylor Swift has taken out this year's Album of the Year Grammy award. This is ever more topical due to the fact that Ms Swift is presently touring my homeland, receiving plenty of press coverage to boot. I'm not that familiar with the music of Taylor Swift; I have heard only 2 of her songs. This being said, how does a 19 year old write/ co-write a complete body of work to garner this title? How does "Fearless" compare to previous Album of the Year Grammy winners? In the present age, does an actual album/ CD hold as much prestige as it once did?

I was born in the early 1970's, thus let's look at some of the Album of the Year award winners for that decade:

1971 - Bridge Over Troubled Waters [ Simon & Garfunkel]
1972 - Tapestry [Carole King]
1977 - Songs In The Key Of Life [Stevie Wonder]
1978 - Rumours [Fleetwood Mac]
1980 - 52nd Street [Billy Joel]

These, my friends, are classic albums

The following decade featured winners of the ilk of Toto, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie - not bad company to be in.

Beyond 1989, Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" 2003 victory could be classifed as a classic album, in terms of commercial success, multiple award-winning categories & general "staying power"; adult-orientated radio will NEVER give up on Ms Jones.

Other than this; nada. Did anybody actually by the winning albums by Herbie Hancock or Ray Charles? [the ulitmate sympathy vote]. Do Outkast still exist?

I wonder if Taylor Swift's "Love Story" will be playlisted alongside Carole King's "So Far Away" in 38 years' time?

A New Charity Song Please!!

Without a doubt, the yardstick for charity songs is based around Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" [1984] and USA For Africa's "We Are The World" [1985]. What do they have in common? Like all of the best songs, they have simple chord structures and memorable melodies. These songs would have been major hits even without the advertisement of a star-studded vocal group.

What's even better, the royalties for both of these songs were distributed to a worthy cause.

Problem: nobody has written a decent charity song since.

I vaguely recall 1991's "Voices That Care", a song recorded for the US Troops in Iraq. The song charted AFTER the Iraq War was over!!

In 1989 & 2004, the best of the current breed of British popstars re-recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" for charity purposes. Can anybody recall who was in the vocal group for these versions?

I now read that "We Are The World" was re-recorded earlier this week, in order to raise money for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.

This is a for a good cause, albeit a very safe option. Why can't today's breed of talented songwriters pull out a classic, moving new song for this purpose?