The Look of Music

I don't know why, but for some reason today I was thinking about how the looks of pop stars or musical performers or whatever they are called has changed over the years. In the 50's and into the early 60's, performers dressed like they were going to a wedding or awards banquet or something of that nature.

That's a picture of the Platters. Nearly every group that performed on TV in the 50's or 60's was dressed like that. Even the Beatles, who caused a ruckus with their "crazy haircuts" wore suits and ties back then. Then in the late 60's a hippy thing happened, which in turn led to the 70's "heroin chic" look where the performers looked like they spent all their free time doing drugs at Studio 54 and forgot to eat for the last four years. (I was gonna show an old picture of Bowie or the Stones but this site is being bitchy.)

Well then the 80's brought about an "anything goes" look. You still had the heroin chic look, then there was the new wave skinny tie look. The "how weird can I look" look (Flock of Seagulls, Devo), the "I put on the first 12 items I picked up off my floor" look (Cyndi Lauper, Madonna) and worst of all the "I'm going to drive women mad by trying to look like them" look: Insert name of any "hair" band here. Seriously, what was that all about? Tiny skinny men with giant long hair wearing skin-tight yellow satin "pants?" Leggings? I think some even wore leg warmers. YUCK! But it does explain why Springsteen became so popular at the time. A regular looking semi-buff guy in a T-shirt and Levi's looked GREAT next to those hair band guys. Not to mention their high soprano singing voices. After that ear-piercing (the drums, not the lobes) and fashion and body challenged era, we came into the 90's.

I don't remember exactly how the transition happened. I guess unique people like Robert Palmer, Bonnie Raitt and Chris Isaac distracted us at first. The next thing you know we had all these bands with deep-voiced singers. Now they were not tiny skinny guys like the hair band dudes. They were a little overweight and dressed like your friends would dress to come over and help you move: Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden.

Next came the big R&B and hip-hop craze. These artists were heavier than the grunge dudes. Really large men and women with giant baggy clothes. Too much fast food or something. And it was like they were wearing tents.

So here we are now at the beginning of the 21st century. Has anyone noticed that nearly every top ten artist looks like they spend EVERY SPARE MINUTE either in the gym or doing sit-ups? Well Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott don't exactly fit that description, but when, recently, was either of them in the top 10? Maybe the DJ's say, "If we can't bounce a tennis ball off your abs, you'll get no airtime here."

I wonder what the next fashion will be. Personally, I liked the way the Platters dressed. Okay and the grunge bands, but only if they'll help me move.