@JohnR - Physical attractiveness has been a key component in music industry success for at least 2 and 1/2 of those 3 decades.
By the mid-80's it was mandatory. A group like Loverboy could've never been signed if they showed up just 3 years later, in the period when music videos were fresh and airing in prime time.
We know attractiveness wasn't such an issue in the 70's because of the success of Janis Joplin and Jim Croce. (They weren't attractive right?)
C-vote was first to identify that this music is a form of satire where the joke is on the people who get it - or don't get it. Think Sigue Sigue Sputnik - a big tongue-in-cheek party. The
major difference is, while the producers are definitely in on the joke, the performers probably are not - or aren't old enough to understand why it's just mean.
This giant sarcastic shift in today's cultural product is all over television, Michael Cera movies <-- you know what I'm talking about? - and bands like
Die Antwoord | 2010,
Steel Panther | 2009, The Darkness | 2004, shit, going all the way back to Spinal Tap / '84, maybe before - just varying in the depth of tongue in cheek.
It's just become mainstream to make everything a big joke. No critic can harm you if you're intentionally ridiculous. And while
The Office (TV show) was funny,
Parks and Recreation was a safe regurgitation of a proven formula. Not funny.
The most courageous and original thing you could do in 2011 is produce a serious, soul-bearing album completely from the heart.
