The video revolution – Looks aren’t everything; they’re the only thing (I)

Joe Jackson, one of the performers from the class of ’77, became a punk (actually, he called himself a “spiv rocker” back then) out of the conservatory. He went on to have a long and varied career, but as he aged (and lost his hair), he faced the decision of whether he wanted to undergo cosmetic procedures so that he could continue to make pop hits and videos. When he decided “no,” he effectively gave up playing rock for money.

He did try one last rock hurrah, singing with Virgin. At the time, pretty nearly every Virgin artist had a video budget – it was one of the label’s prime means of promotion. Joe had not made a clip in six years, but Virgin coaxed, cajoled, and cudgeled him into doing a couple.

“He said, I don’t mind doing music videos if I give MTV the finger,’” recalled director Marcus Nispel.

How an artist looked was starting to take precedence over how an artist sounded or the quality of an artist’s songs. This caused Joe Jackson, for all intents and purposes, abandon pop:

Things which used to count, such as being a good composer, player or singer, are getting lost in the desperate rush to visualize everything. It is now possible to be all of the above and still get nowhere simply by not looking good in a video, or worse still, not making one.

Jackson put his finger on an attitude that has led to a marked fall in the quality of music. He quit playing rock at one of the peaks of importance for music videos, when the conventional wisdom said you couldn’t have a hit without one.

Fortunately, he had his conservatory training to lean on, and he started making composed albums of postmodern “classical” music with rock instrumentation, winning a Grammy for his 1999 Symphony 1. The classical albums didn’t sell the hundreds of thousands that Look Sharp or Night and Day sold, but he maintained a career, and didn’t have to do videos.

While it might be a chicken-or-egg situation, in 1981 only 23 percent of the singles in Billboard’s Hot 100 hit singles had accompanying videos. By 1986, that number had risen to 86 percent. By 1989, fully 97 percent of the Hot 100 hits had a video version. The record companies regard music video as essential, and it becomes a huge draw on their assets.

Even an inexpensive music video costs thousands of dollars, which, as we’ve seen, very few records make. The ideal recording artist, from a music video standpoint, is an underwear model with a great voice, but some very talented musicians just aren’t very attractive. Some just look awkward. Would Janis Joplin or Joe Cocker even stand a chance in today’s marketplace? Would anyone download their clips to watch on their video iPod?

“I have two bands that I’m managing now that would have been signed four years ago,” manager Larry Mazer complained in 1990, “Now, nobody will commit. The labels tell me they won’t get on MTV.”

“There’s a band from Chicago called Rebels Without Applause that I did shows with when I lived in the Midwest,” said Jason Lekberg of the band Wraith.

Mudvayne, SOiL, and many of the bands that got signed from the Midwest opened for them yet they never got a deal. Greg, the singer, and I talked about it and he didn’t really go into too much detail, but I know they had meetings with a few labels. The problem is, he’s a very large black man. Unfortunately, I think the shallow industry couldn’t see past it.