In case you haven’t seen them, the new 1800 Tequila ads are priceless. Actor Michael Imperioli (former Detroit 1-8-7 star) stars in a series of dead pan ads poking fun at today’s “men”. Last year’s spots were mediocre at best, taking pot shots at more upscale competitor tequilas. That said, this year’s ads are hilarious. Here’s one of my favorites:
This year’s 1800 Tequila spots still zero in on Patron, but the sentiment of the ads has us thinking that there’s a lot of “What Ever Happened To?” possibilities. With that, we’ve been inspired to continue this meme on Every Other Thursday whereby we’re going to look at how things used to be and compare them today. Today we’re taking on Music.
What ever happened to music? It used to be songs about getting laid, flames and some ripping guitar solos. Now it’s all crying about the girl that got away, holding guitars without actually playing them and Tiger Beat appearances.
Don't mind our shit music, we have perfectly white teeth and well groomed hipster facial hair!
Seriously, none of the most influential artists of the past 40 years would be popular today. Beatles? Forget it. Too many bad teeth. Dylan? Are you kidding me? Simon Cowell even said that Bob Dylan bores him and, let’s be honest, Dylan would never win on Cowell’s former karaoke contest show. Sure, he writes powerful songs with meaning, but is he attractive?
Furthermore, it’s a complete sham that most of the artists today don’t even write their own songs, let alone do more than “sing”, thanks to autotuning. Face it, music today is a farce. It starts with image/looks and at the bottom of the list of criteria is talent.
A friend that runs a record label once said to me that the current criteria for signing bands is whether or not the A&R people found the artists attractive enough to have sex with them. Unfortunately, it’s the rest of us that are getting screwed.
If you get away from the major labels and the radio, I think there is maybe more good music available today than ever.