80’s Sunday Rewind: filling a Void

If you're a semi-regular reader of this blog you know that I'm a music lover and somewhat of a band and artist know-it-all, particularly of 80's music.  In general, it's the post-punk, new wave genre that I love.  You're not going to see any Kenny Loggins or Chicago or Van Halen on the Sunday Rewind, it's just not me.  So, as I perused the old 80's iPod playlist this week, I kept going back  two songs from a band I knew nothing about.  That's an odd thing for me.  I bought a compilation Rock of the 80's tape years ago with one of those two songs among the bigger hits from other well-known bands, and I rather liked the song, but never did any research on the band — just filed the song, and later another of their songs in my memory.  And for as long as I've listened to those songs, I didn't think anything of the band.

That band was Romeo Void. 

I decided today was the day for a Romeo Void Sunday Rewind and checked to see what was out there as far as music videos for the band, as I enjoy an 80's video for the cheese factor and because the interwebs is a visual medium, most blog readers would like to see a video from time to time.     Because I came upon Romeo Void in the 90's after they had broken up and MTV was no longer playing their vids, I had no idea what to expect and from the singer's voice, I imagined a Debbie Harry-type girl fronting the band — not sure why.  Here's the first video I watched, which was also their first , "Never Say Never," followed one of my favorite 80's songs,  "Girl in Trouble (is a Temporary Thing)."

After seeing the video, I knew why I knew nothing about Romeo Void.  Gotta love  the VJ's commentary, "I don't know, by the looks of that girl, doesn't look like she'd get in any trouble."  Jackass. 

There are a number of  bands that never got a fair shake after MTV became a marketing force and tool for the record companies.  Tonight I realized Romeo Void was one of them.  As I scanned the Related Videos on the right hand side of You Tube, I saw the now cancelled VH1 show "Bands Reunited" did a show on Romeo Void.  Awesome.  I poured a glass of iced tea and started watching. 

I was not surprised to see the two themes that  kept re-emerging: the familiar story of  jealousy
over the group frontperson receiving most of the attention and the
record label's refusal to support a band whose lead singer, Native American, Debora Iyall, who was
plus-sized. Saxaphonist Benjamin Bossi tells the story of Clive Davis and his entourage coming to a show, only to walk out of the club before Debora sang a note.  It was the group's misfortune to emerge during the infancy of music videos. As the band
recounts it, after they released the video to their second big single,
"A Girl in Trouble (is a Temporary Thing)," minus any camera tricks or effort to conceal Iyall, Columbia immediately pulled its support of the group, who was on tour at the time.  Pathetic.  I find myself wondering if this would happen today. 

Sure, we have artists like Beth Ditto, who is not only unapologetically plus-sized, she's also starting a fashion line, but we're also bombarded with Jenny Craig commercials and Photoshopped magazine covers.  As a self-taught graphics chick, one of my favorite websites is Photoshop Disasters, it features the worst in what you see everyday, but may never notice (until right now).  All of the images below are from PSD. 

Why, here's someone I've never listened to willfully.  This is a smaller image than what's on PSD, but do you see what I see?  Yeah, she has giant boobs, but she also has one giant hand.  Why?  Did the graphics department make one hand smaller or one bigger?  Mariah, did your head shrink since your last album?  What exactly is going on with your belly button?  Hell, your shadow doesn't even match up. 

Something has been 'shopped with her chin, but I can't figure out what it is.  It's like one of those pictures that were in the Hightlights magazine when I was a kid where you circle the things that don't belong, like a sock in a tree or a television with real rabbit ears.  I can't look at this anymore, it's almost as bad as listening to one of her songs. 

That hand is scary, man. 

Here we have spawn of Achy Breaky Heart.  I assume to make Miley look more like a real musician and not a manufactured Disney pop princess, Glamour magazine gave her a guitar as a prop. 

Although I've never played guitar, I've seen a few in my day.  I've
never seen one with an invisible part of the neck connecting to the
head of the instrument. For reasons known only to someone who super likes the eraser on Photoshop, they took the neck of the guitar out.  

Mr. Eraser has also 'shopped out part of her torso by her left arm above the guitar.  Why?

Finally, I'm no fan of Beyonce, but I know a lot of people like her.  She also is a woman who wears many hats — singer, dancer, actress.  She also must wear a bunch of gloves because she has 4 arms.  Of course, the third is circled for us, but one is sprouting out of her head as well. 

What these photos say to me is "hey, guess what else we've 'shopped that you can't see?" 

We're living in an age where there is no such thing as a real photograph anymore.  With a computer you can have bigger boobs, a smaller waist, longer neck, or an extra arm.   I can put your head on someone else's body if you want. 

I'm not sure if Romeo Void would have debuted in 2009 they would have had more success.  There are all shapes, sizes, and colors in the music industry today, but I still think we have a long way to go.