ROCK VIDIOCY WHAT'S BLACK & WHITE & WATCHED ALL OVER?

ROCK VIDIOCY WHAT'S BLACK & WHITE & WATCHED ALL OVER?

DAVE DiMARTINO

If you've been listening, there's been a lot of people using the word "racism" lately that might not have been using it before. It's a touchy subject, no lie—but it's galling to hear it used so casually.

Here's the scoop: You've probably read someone, somewhere, dismissing MTV's music programming as racist —this because black acts are very rarely featured and, when featured, are black "rock" bands like the Bus

Boys, Gory "U.S." Bonds, or the English Beat. When I heard about the controversy and MTV's resulting defensive-ness, it seemed hilariously appropriate, typical of our Wocky America and obviously true. Where were these great Rick James videos I'd seen at clubs?

When I saw Prince's "1999" video on MTV soon after, it seemed no "victory" for black music; a black friend of my wife's, over watching while I wos, remarked "it figures they'd show him," somewhat disgustedly. As a white 29-year old who, let's

face it, has spent less-than-zip years overly familiar with black culture, I wasn't surpri-sed by her comment so much as the fact that it

was an issue, that it had been dis-cussed, I assume, by my wife's friend with her other black friends. Frankly, I didn't even think they'd notice-lust dan-dy of me, I realize.

When I asked her what she'd like to see, though, she startled me: "Pieces Of A Dream," she said.

"They're schlock," I told her.

"No, they're not,she told me.

And I didn't know what to say.

To throw some true facts around, I think it's common knowledge that rock 'n' roll's roots lie in R&B, and that blacks in the late '40s and '50s were mercilessly ripped off by a white culture that "cleaned up" the black music-stylistic-ally, lyrically and emotionally -and made millions. The some facts dictate that in the Good-Old-'60s, there was Sfax and Motown and no one cared who was black or white, it was all lust groovy, man...

On the other hand, in 1968 I once went to a nearly pop festival, watched a very black Jimi Hendrix play, and thought it was great. More interesting, I think I saw Marvin Gaye at the same fastivaI—I don't know. I probably left for the other stage, to see Sweetwater or Pacific Gas & Electric (Their lead singer may have been black but...didn't "sound" it...). At the time, I thought Marvin Gaye was boring. Just like I thought Aretha Franklin's "Respect" was. And I thought Sly & the Family Stone were not only banal but liked because they were black by white people in those very "Liberal'' '60s.

None of which is to demonstrate that I was any more of a moron than you were or weren't, and I certainly don't mean to "fess up" now, either. What I'm trying to figure out is why call MTV racist when our entire musical culture has been going that way since 1960$ In 1983, as a typical white 29-year-old, I have been phased out of appreciating black music proper by a system that's elaborately fed upon itself and now provides the lowest common denominator in entertainment.

Let's be realistic. I own lots of records and have been getting them free for years. I've got loads of rock albums, fewer jazz albums, and even fewer "black" albums. If I listed the titles, and you've been reading rock mags for a while, you'd chortle—James Brown, Chic, Parliament, The Jacksons, Prince, Al Green, Rick James, Marvin Gaye, (fave album of '82 was Here, My Dear, but it was out for "a while"), Ray Parker— superb artists, but, as I'm sure my wife's friend would admit, not exactly Pieces Of A Dream.

The point, you see, is the MTV would not show Pieces Of A Dream any more than they'd show the latest video by Kenny Rogers or the Angry Samoans—because each have been stratified by our Electric Age as playing specific types of music. And whaf might have made Lome Greene's ''Ringo,'' Paul Mauriat's "Love Is Blue,'.' the Standells' "Dirty Water" and Richard Harris's "MacArthur Park" bonafide hits of '60s Pop Culture clearly no longer works— and in fact hasn't been working since radio stations found an "easier" way to rate record popularity than simply by the number of requests. We have allowed all music to become "like" some other piece, trusted n umbers-of-yesses, and computerized ourselves until things no longer compute.

Which is a tired argument, one so ordinary you might think it lacks credibility. But it doesn't.

The reason you don't see Marvin Gaye or Rick James on MTV is the same reason you haven't heard them on your AOR station for years. Someone thinks you'll hate them. What no one admits, of course—particularly the people who collect the same "black" records that I do— is that you probably will hate them, for a while, just like if I brought 35 Ravi Shankar albums over to your house, you'd slam the door in my face. You wouldn't want to hear it because you're never really heard it, and it wouldn't sound right.

What's funny is that the very stagnant AOR radio format is now folding back into itself—temporarily, at least, and only slightly—and people no longer want to hear the 15th xerox of Loverboy, who sound like Foreigner, who sound like Free, and maybe Styx, who sounded like Yes, ad pukias. End result is that maybe you're hearing Flock Of Seagulls, or Duran Duran, Adam Ant or maybe Culture Club — who don't sound like Styx or Led Zeppelin, but do share one other traibthey're visually appealing. Just like Prince.

End result is that I have absolutely no doubts about the selling power of MTV, that it currently affects more music than anything else has since radio consultant Lee Abrams made oatmeal of the FM charts, and that when other music video sources become as widely spread, as they surely will, Pieces Of A Dream will be "like" Barry Manilow or Air Supply—formatted, in the classic '80s AOR perspective—just as Prince will be "like" Van Halen or Adam Ant.

I'm too inept to really take any moral stance other than the obvious, so let's just say that if more people buy "black" records than "white" records, there'll be more "black" videos than "white" ones, and that things really haven't changed since Pat Boone sang "Tutti-Frutti" in 1956. And when I interviewed Rick James in 1981, he told me that Street Songs' chart positions in Billboard were "bullshit," and that the magazine ignored inner city sales, and that the album sold more than most people think. I don't really think he was lying.

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While we're on the subject: Grace Jones's super One Man Show is currently available and it's one of the best video presentations I've seen. My co-editor told me that he saw a clip on the USA Network's Nightflight—does that mean it's not on MTV? Just asking...

One other ramble: A recent PBS fundraiser on Detroit's Channel 56 brought a volley of music programming, including Granada TV's Don't Knock The Rock with Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Gene Vincent and the Animals. Great fun, especially for videotapers—raw footage is absolutely the best to collectors, and the Animals alone here are priceless. What preceded the special however, was a rerun of the Beach Boys' 20th Anniversary Special, and the potential for raw footage here was amazing. The good stuff: footage from 1965's surfploitation flick The Girls On The Beach, The Andy Williams Show and The Kraft Music Hour. Most disappointing, though, was the consistent use of recent foofage shot at Knebworth, in Britain. With all that potential, why show a glorious American band at it's worst instead of it's heyday? How about complete footage of the bands on those shows? It's what made The Compleat Beatles so disappointing—just a tease. Raw footage, please...

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And in keeping with the rawness, another batch of random snips from MTV, rock videos at their worst and... best?

best

THE CURE: "Let's Go To Bed"—Love the band, but this video I enjoy simply because it will be incredibly dated in 10 years, and I'm looking forward to it. Good song. Visually as indicative of rock culture during the '80s as the cover of Disreali Gears was to the '60s. Seriously.

STYX: "Heavy Metal Poisoning"—This may be my favorite video of the year, simply because I've yet to put into words why I find this band so incredibly obnoxious, and here's this video doing all the work for me. As a former philosophy student, let me recommend this one to people who want to figure out a) Is Heavy Metal bad? b) Are Styx bad? and c) Should everyone kill themselves? Three "Yesses" tell the tale...

RANDY NEWMAN: "I Love L.A."—Bitter Randy's nonetheless put together a merce vid, basically, with cleavage and more Hawaiian shirts than anyone could ever possibly want to see. Innate cynicism—on your part, not just his—makes it all work. GREG KIHN BAND: "Jeopardy"—Though Greg's bland more often than not, what especially helps this vid is the narrative within — Greg's getting married—and the two-second nod toward Thalidomide babies. I didn't think he had it in him.

DEVO: "That's Good": I'm giving them more credit here than they deserve, but as someone who's followed them from way back, I admire the french fry/donut coupling here and most importantly, respect the manipulative powers. The cheaper their videos look, the more work it looks like they've put into them. Also, one of their better songs.

worst

NAKED EYES: "Always Something There To Remind Me"—It's utterly despicable that bands can make a living by digging up classic hits like this and making malto-meal out of them, especially this song. I mentioned it earlier, but one more time: an insult to everyone's intelligence. This is a formula? NEAL SCHON & JAN HAMMER: "No More Lies"—No more lies? OK. idiot, cast as a sex symbol in this video. He looks like one. Neal Schon sings better than Steve Perry does, but could never make as much money at it—which is why this video exists in the first place. Extremely offensive to women. U2:"New Year's Eve"— This is from the band's latest LP, War, but the video is lame compared to the record. The idea that this band can fly to some snowy place, dance around and call it art is as stupid as it gets. Will "The Edge" have a hard time convincing his grandchildren he was once "famous"? And actually named "The Edge"? THE FLIRTS: "Jukebox”— Incriminating evidence that all you need in rock video are several breasts and maybe a face or two. This band could be the next Cake...

KIM CARNES: "Just Say You Don’t Know Me"— That the producers here don't want to show how wrinkled Kim Carnes' face is—sick but true—is probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen shown on MTV. I hope she's ashamed, and I hope the clown who made this video feels worse.