There was a time when MTV was “Music Television” and VH1 proudly voiced “Music First” as its slogan, bringing visual arts to mainstream TV with pride and poise. That time was grand.
Who knew “Survivor” would spawn the reality TV Satan of today? Music-heavy programs such as “Hard Rock Live” and “VH1 Storytellers” have been pushed aside for “Bromance” and “Tool Academy,” where hair gel and tribal tattoos “chill” on every pixel of your HD home theatre. “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” and “Double Shot at Love” blow our minds and own our attention as crackheads pick up crack whores on national television like it’s their job — and sadly it is.
Now, the only music seen on television is the occasional Bruce Springsteen song at an Obama rally. Yes, you can still see rock stars on TV, but you’ll find them battling their addictions on “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.”
MTV and VH1 attempt to stay affiliated with music through shows like “Rock of Love,” which visually portray the “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll” motto, minus the rock ‘n’ roll. Sure, artists have been writing songs to get laid for decades, but now Bret Michaels just picks from a houseful of pseudo-rock bimbos without even striking a D-chord.
Music countdowns like “100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs” and “American Idol” remain as survivors from the reality-trash invasion, but there comes a time in every man’s life when he needs music free of Michael Ian Black commentary and Sanjaya dirt lips.
Solid musicianship should no longer be vacant from the public eye. Great songwriting is dying and songs that tell us to “lean wit it” are thriving. Guitar prodigies are left on YouTube while video hoes shake their butt floss underwear in 50 Cent’s face.
How about some live music performances on cable TV? This is the purest form of art out there, as musicians build a symphony with 10 strings and a drum kit. Melodies and harmonies not forged or filtered by drum loops and formula-ridden producers. Mainstream TV needs to start portraying musical craft that can be appreciated by both music junkies and Joe the plumber. Society would benefit from a creative base from which everyone can stem from, a pop culture that knows more than Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ Jon, or Lil’ Bow Wow.
Supposedly, networks are bringing the people what they want, adding to a passive-learning culture reliant on spoon-fed television for entertainment. People will always love watching the outrageous, obscene and offensive. While that’s all good, the visual arts need a place in cable television.
Music is our medicine. Smart music forces us to think, interpret and feel things we would otherwise not. Without music on television, it becomes necessary to venture out to other mediums for visual arts.
The majority is not willing to do that but prefers to soak in “I Kissed a Girl” from the couch. That’s why we have radio stations with 20-song rotations. Consequently, a feeble mold of hollow musical desires is formed for society, and it’s time for VH1 and MTV to revisit their roots.
So let’s face it: The thriving ’90s of music television are over. But look on the bright side, Scott Stapp will no longer sing you “Higher” in a wife beater.
Brett Wisniewski ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.