tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post5185976150639913935..comments2024-03-18T17:20:21.775-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Music videos that were cooler than their songsagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-48008275175344631122014-01-24T23:41:45.944-05:002014-01-24T23:41:45.944-05:00Young, good-looking, gyrating before slack-jawed T...Young, good-looking, gyrating before slack-jawed TV audiences obsessed with the hairdo of the performer -- that's Elvis in the '50s. (At least his music was decent, albeit simple since rock 'n' roll was in its infancy.)agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-73047684656402882952014-01-24T23:38:44.663-05:002014-01-24T23:38:44.663-05:00If anything, music videos helped performers who we...If anything, music videos helped performers who weren't young, good-looking, or based on gyrating. With live performances, photographs in mass media, and TV performances, the audience always saw the performers for long enough to form a yay-or-nay opinion about their looks.<br /><br />Someone who wouldn't have made a photogenic guest on American Bandstand or Ed Sullivan could shoot a video where they didn't appear at all, or at least only here and there. Tom Petty doesn't appear much in the video for "Free Fallin,' " which is made up of character vignettes. Hard to imagine him finding the same success if he had to wow the TV teenyboppers in order to get noticed.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-79737489909890349252014-01-24T23:10:04.790-05:002014-01-24T23:10:04.790-05:00And yet MTV didn't feature "good looking ...And yet MTV didn't feature "good looking young people with no musical talent gyrating for a few minutes." Videos from the '80s tried to be narrative, conceptual, off-beat, or stylized concert performances.<br /><br />Talentless people gyrating came after the decline and fall of MTV as a music video provider. More of an internet / YouTube phenomenon.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-17864868190339810122014-01-24T22:46:15.519-05:002014-01-24T22:46:15.519-05:00"music videos became so associated with the s..."music videos became so associated with the song in your mind that over time you couldn't see anything else when you heard it"<br />The way to avoid that: don't watch the video in the first place. Most of my favorite songs never had videos, but for the rest the videos occupy roughly zero mind-share, having already heard the song so many times before seeing the video.<br /><br />My complaint about music videos is that they favored certain types stuff over the AOR that was big in the 60s/70s. Music video watchers aren't going to sit through a big slab of prog, for instance. But they will watch good looking young people with no musical talent gyrating for a few minutes.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-26041538748110532072014-01-24T16:48:58.917-05:002014-01-24T16:48:58.917-05:00Those girls and the ones from "Simply Irresis...Those girls and the ones from "Simply Irresistible" have a cool 1920s vibe, not attention-whoring but not withdrawn either.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-52130171055746019612014-01-24T09:43:04.803-05:002014-01-24T09:43:04.803-05:00Whoa what the heck is that? Feel free to delete t...Whoa what the heck is that? Feel free to delete these comments...trying to figure out why my name came out like that. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-54609188742912140622014-01-24T09:41:33.272-05:002014-01-24T09:41:33.272-05:00I just watched this video about the "Addicted...I just watched this video about the "Addicted to Love" girls this morning:<br /><br />http://music.yahoo.com/video/robert-palmer-girls-today-003611538.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com