Music Videos

Music videos was a big thing in the 80's and even part of the 90's. With cable tv channels like Mtv, CMC and VH1 and the late night weekend show Night Tracks that was on a regular channel, we were able to see music in a creative way. Mtv was the first channel to do this. It gave a different way for our favorite artist to be creative and to tell their story.  It had my generation glued to that freakin' tv hoping to catch our favorites. Even if I didn't like a song, I still enjoyed watching a video - sometimes. It gave us another way to dance in our living rooms (hoping no one would catch us) and to discover new music having us rush out to the nearest record store to pick up the hottest song. It was also a way to give artist more publicity which I'm sure help create more sales. Those videos also would create lots of conversations at schools asking "did you see so and so's video?" Shows like Mtv also helped launch new artist like Madonna.

The videos did so much for us, for our culture and for artist everywhere. Michael Jackson was one of the artist that blew up the video scene when he came out with his videos like 'Billie Jean', 'Beat it', and the very popular 'Thriller'.  He set the bar high with 'Thriller' and blew people's minds and was the first mini film video. Even if you don't like Michael Jackson, you have to admit that it is an awesome video especially for that time period. The video industry pushed artist to come up with that awesome video.

Another person who I thought was creative with their videos was Cyndi Lauper. Her videos were always weird, corky and yet fun and entertaining. Madonna did sexy videos with 'Like a virgin' and 'Material Girl', having girls everywhere wanting to dress like her. Rock videos had rockers head banging and trying to do air guitar right along with the videos.

Music videos then came with their own award shows and always gave the press even more to talk about when it came to "pop-stars", both good and bad. Madonna was talked about A LOT with the videos she came out with. There was also some talk about Prince's video 'When doves cry', Michael Jackson doing his crotch grabbing, Cyndi Lauper when she had the big orange hair and 'We are the world' which created good talk. 

I miss those days. The videos back then were very creative and entertaining. The songs were better. It was something to relax to and enjoy. The feelings one would get when they saw a video from their favorite artist is indescribable. It was almost like a high. We could forget about our troubles just by vegging out in front of the tv with our music.  

Today, it just isn't the same. Mtv isn't a music television anymore. Well maybe during the wee hours of the night/morning but that's it. VH1 is the same. Artist stopped putting a lot of creativity into their videos. It could be about money, because they don't get seen as much or maybe both. It's really sad. Yes we may have youtube but it's not the same. Sure I get very excited when my favorite artist  puts out a video and I enjoy it very very much but there will always be something missing (not at all the artist fault)  and that's seeing the videos on tv. It just has a different vibe. Most videos don't get a lot of notice, don't get talked about in the media much (unless it's a bad review) and it doesn't do a whole lot for the artist because they don't get noticed much(is my take on it). A lot of money goes into videos but hardly any money gets made from them. 

There needs to be an actual music channel to bring back the old videos and new ones. We will always go to youtube for videos but to just turn on the tv and kick back with different videos playing is better. Plus not every video is on youtube. Some even get taken down because of copyrights. If they are on tv, there is none of that happening. There still are some very creative, simple and entertaining videos with stories like 'Roar', "E.T.', 'Born this way', 'Have a nice day', 'Black out the sun' just to name a few. It just seems like there is less and less. I know this is a new era but there still needs to be a good ol' music channel. The 80's were awesome for so many different reasons. I love music videos. They are awesome and could be watched all day long. I want my Mtv. :)

New Kids On The Block/Boy Bands and the negativity about them

I will not be writing this from a fan's point of view but from a view of seeing the music world. Boy bands (I actually hate this term but it sounds better than boy group) have been around for centuries but in different forms. There was The Beatles (which was actually a band), The Osmands, Jackson 5, Beach Boys and so on. Those were the bands from my parents generation. In my generation there was New Kids On The Block. The following generations were Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, N'sync, Hanson and so on. For every generation, there is and always will be a boy band (now I sound like the opening of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'; Can you say nerd much?). The only difference between all these groups is the type of music. As each generation changes, so did the music, how these groups perform, look etc.

Back in the late 80's early 90's, all I heard was bad talk about NKOTB (mostly from guys). I wonder, was it like this with the boy bands from the past or is it a thing now? Why throw out negative comments about boy bands? I just don't get it. NKOTB have come back, well actually they have been back for awhile but they just put out another album called '10'. Sometimes I still hear talk like, "they are still around? More like old men on block. Ewwww new kids" and so on. I also hear the same things I heard back in the day about how they don't play their own instruments, they don't write their own songs, they can't dance, they lip sync, they can't sing. I never understood the comments and I still don't. 

Not every singer writes their own songs (now NKOTB do write songs), not everyone has to play an instrument (although the term "band" does indicate instruments which is why I hate the term boy band but there isn't any other name that sounds good), they don't lip sync, so they are not the best dancers but most singers are average dancers unless the dancing is just as big of the performance as the singing and I will admit, they are not the best singers (I cringe saying it since I am a huge fan) but they are still pretty good and a hell of a lot better than a lot of artist out there.

When I hear comments or see that they are too old to be singing, to old to be dancing around and to be called New kids, I don't get it. What about The Beach Boys? They are grown men, still preform and yet they have the word 'Boys' in their name? There are so many singers out there that are well in their 50's and still make music. Everyone has their own taste in music. Music makes people feel a certain way and certain music doesn't apply to everyone. Doesn't make them bad singers. I just don't understand why so many people hate on boy bands or even on people like Justin Bieber. How many boy bands can go their separate ways, come back 20 years later and still hit it pretty hard? Not many and yet NKOTB has done it. 

I guess I will never know why boy bands from my generation and today get so much negative attention. I do know it gets pretty old. If boy bands (or any singer for that matter) can make people happy and make money, what is the harm? Why does so much negativity have to be thrown around? Why is it the older generation boy bands don't get so much negativity like ours do? What is music to one persons ears, is crap to another which is fine. Not everyone is going to like their music. 

Why I like NKOTB? I like the way it makes me feel. I like different types of music. They make me feel different things. NKOTB is my fun, let loose, feeling free, escaping from the stress of everyday life. Watching them on stage, well I'm a straight female who doesn't mind watching five guys on stage (just like men watching girls). I know this won't stop the feud but I needed to express it and just question it. I mean shouldn't we be discussing and worrying about more important things than "Oh my God they're still around"?