I was listening today, by mistake, to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. While humming the chorus, I recalled how happy I was as a child watching the video.

Well, since I had some spare time on my side, I started to think about how much the music industry have changed during the years. It’s not only the genres that evolved; it’s also the way music videos look nowadays. If I switch on the TV and select randomly a music channel, I am bombarded by boobs, short skirts, booties moving around. There are some decent music videos as well, yet again, most of them display the band/artist in different landscapes, so there is no actual story there.

How many of you remember the music videos of the ‘80s? Bon Jovi’s “Always”, Guns’n’Roses’ “November Rain”, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”?
Those were the kind of videos that held my attention as a teenager. I was feeling the story and looking forward to seeing it again. No matter how clumsy the acting was, it was entertaining.

Not that I want to criticize today’s music scene, but I am simply stunned sometimes when I see the lack of inspiration when it comes to setting up a music video. With the amount of technology and special effects that we currently enjoy, it is quite a shame, isn’t it?

Sometime, I do get nostalgic about the times when there was one music channel and so many stories there to watch while listening to your favorite songs.
It seems there is a trend nowadays to sell the artist by displaying the body, the designer’s clothes, some funky make up and some nudity. Well, some manage to look good and make an impression, but it’s still no big idea behind it.

Even if we look at the way art evolved during the centuries, we could notice the same trend applies. From hieroglyphs to simplified writing. From pyramids to simple tombs. From the Classic Greek sculptures, with detailed shapes of the human body to abstract, modern sculpture.
From the warm paintings of the Renaissance, with their display of colors, details, beauty, shades, dimension to a Piccasso painting.

From the elaborate fashion of the 18th century , with the complex cuts, the volumes and the attention to details, to the minimalistic fashion today.

Trends and “designers” were always there, so how come everything evolved in such a drastic manner?

What keeps me confident is the fact that history tends to repeat itself and trends are coming back from time to time.