A frame from KISS’ Tears Are Falling video

I just was reading somewhere that some band was going to shoot the first video for their new album.  It made me wonder what ever happened to the music video?

Back when I was growing up, they were everywhere.  We had two channels that played them almost nonstop back then on TV.  What changed?  Did we just get bored with them?  Maybe.

I guess most of them were fairly forgettable.  Was it the artists who tried to push the envelope or tried to sell us on the idea that music videos were a serious art form?  It is possible.  Who knows?  I guess I could do some research and find out, but how boring would that be?

Van Dyke

My personal feeling is that like most things in the music business, it turned in to a “pay to play” situation. Any of you who have been in a serious band trying to get discovered, you know what I mean.  At every turn there are scuzzballs trying to scrape a few bucks off anyone on the way up, or on the way down for that matter.  Ever hear of a submission fee?  If not, I am sure the Al Bowmans of the world will explain how they work. I could go on, but I want to talk about videos.

What is the worst music video you ever saw? Please comment and let me know; I get bored easily so I would love to check out some horrific ones.  The one I remember is “Rock Me Tonight” by Billy Squier. Just terrible. Another classic is from the band Kiss. In the mid ’80s, Kiss decided to take of their makeup and steal David Lee Roth’s wardrobe and become followers of the latest trend in music. They made a string of unwatchable videos, but the worst by far is for a song called “Tears Are Falling.” I would love to have heard or seen the initial idea being pitched for this one.  “OK, I am thinking a desert island with the world’s largest drum set and maybe a Fraggle Rock kind of vibe.” Absolutely hideous. And just when you think it is not that bad, it closes with Paul Stanley doing finger windshield wipers over his eyes.

The videos I liked were the funny ones. “Goin’ Crazy” by David Lee Roth Comes to mind. All the Weird Al Yankovic ones were pretty silly, too.

These days all you can find on TV are country music videos.  While there are a few interesting ones, most are garbage.  It is that same tired “Nashvilleback” sound over and over on most of them.  It’s always a scene with a field, some farm machinery and a bunch of way too good looking people gathered together. Don’t they know good looking people do not travel in groups that large?  If they did, no one would ever go home.

The last one I saw was something about being barefoot, which leads me to my next irritation. Why do people go barefoot on stage? It seems a bit unsanitary to me. What’s next? You go on stage with no pants?  Put your shoes on!  I do not care if it is more comfortable for you. I am not comfortable that you are comfortable.

Well, that’s all I got for now. I gotta go practice some songs for the band I just joined. What’s that? When did I join a band? Well, stay tuned and I will tell you all about it.  Next time …

— DVD