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For whatever reason why did Rock musicians decide to get very short even crew-cuts in the 1990s?
Hi Jake F.,
Well I have to say these guys look like they just came off the street to do this video.Just plain cookie cutter haircuts,ordinary street clothes and no stage presence.I mean the song is ok but the rest isn't much to look at:( Might as well just listen to the on the radio.Here is an example of what I miss back in the day when going to see live bands was actually a visual experience as well as a musical one:)Cheers
Mârk
Ah, the hair bands of the 80's. With lots of puffed up manes and spandex. They were as interesting to watch as they were to hear. :-)
--Dale
Well, I was not putting their music down and I hope others did not see it that way. that was not my intention.
I was just curious why bands started going short in the 1990s.
I would like to see all Pop/Rock bands going back to longer hairstyles(and it is definitely time for a change) and imho it should apply to all styles/genres across the board.
No knock on the song but frankly it made me feel like going to a funeral.Let rock with longhair with this clip!Rollum!!!!
Fashion
Long hair was a fashion its a day, a sign of rebellion.
Well this crew is far from fashionable and the only thing they are rebelling against is long hair ;)LOL
Mârk
Hi Mark,
I would definitel agree with your statement! I can only hope I am being as unfashionable as humanly possible! Great day my friend!
Ted
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Hey Ted,
What I'm saying is these guy are in a band and have no identity to set them
apart from the man on the street.They look common as dirt in both dress and
hairstyle if you can even call it that.These guys are so forgettable unlike bands
such as KISS that clearly have an image.Cheers:)
Mârk
Hi Mark,
Are you arguing that their music is sub-par solely due to the fact that they are not as distinguished in their appearance as compared to groups like KISS?
I think this topic comes down to a matter of taste, and really depends on what you want to get out of your music. If your preference is for the whole "visual experience" as you stated in your other post, then yes, KISS would be a great band to see in concert. But there are also bands that want the entirety of their efforts to be placed on their music rather than having to divide that energy amongst the construction and maintenance of a front-runner image or (in this case) a collective image of the entire band. A great example: Maynard Keenan of TOOL often performs behind-stage during live productions as to keep the focus on the music rather than the persona of an individual artist within the band. This anti-visualization effort also carries through in their music videos which (with the exception of two early productions) feature the band's art rather than their faces. The same principle can be applied to the Toadies.
But again this all comes down to preference, and what you're looking for in your music.
Take care,
Kris
Hi Kris,
I guess it came across a bit the wrong way as I did not mean to degrade the quality of their product,ie: music.Music, like art,is a matter of taste so in reality some like while others don't.I was merely commenting on the visual aspect of this group compared to what I recalled from bands that I've know when younger.I've heard that tune they played but honestly never knew the actual group that played it so when this thread started I finally found out.To me,I do like to see some showmanship in a live performance but that's just my preference.These guys just look so common to me as if anyone on the street.Still not knocking their music but just saying.Cheers
Mârk
So these musicians rebelled in the other direction by going
with short hair.
Hi LHIA,
Excellent point I say! Great day to you!
Ted
Yup, totally agree. In the 1990s long hair was no longer seen as rebellious. It was passé and OLD-fashioned, short hair was young and IN fashion. Likewise with clothes: glittery stage outfits were out, understated street clothes were in.
The band clearly needed to appear fresh and fashionable, not passé and dowdy, to appeal to a young audience. Simple as that!
Rock music is NOT inextricably linked to long hair. That image has just become a stereotype. Rock music is rock music, no matter what hairstyle!
You have to view their style from a 1990s viewpoint, not that of previous decades or today. Long hair is fashionable again today but it was out of fashion then.
Damon
Damon
I am going to slightly disagree with you about the rebellion part as it applies to the 1990s mainstream, however I was having this same discussion with someone else today and we basically came to the same conclusion that
short hair was only really seen as a sign of rebellion around the time the Sex Pistols came on the scene about 1976 when the majority of popular groups both pop and rock had long manes.
they were the first well-known band to actually sport short and spiky hairstyles and they were definitely rebellious. in fact they were so notorious that the BBC banned them over one of their songs.
short spiky hairdos are no longer associated with rebellion than long hair or purple hair probably is today.
I think the mainstream rockers might have been partially either directly inspired by the sex pistols or similar bands like them or by bands who were in some way inspired by the pistols, and not so much musically, but aesthetically.
as for long hair...
I'm not sure we do disagree. My point was that by the 1990s long hair was no longer seen as rebellious, not that short hair was.
Long hair was rebellious in the 1960s before it became totally mainstream; short spiky hair was rebellious in the 1970s before it too became totally mainstream. By the 1990s neither hairstyle was seen as rebellious any more.
Both styles had long since passed the rebellious phase - though long hair would have been perceived by young people in the 1990s as slightly more old-fashioned than short hair. By then, long hair had become associated with their parent's generation and smacked of the "ageing hippie".
Now, twenty years on from the 1990s, another generation has passed and long hair has lost much of that association among young people in the 2010s. Most of THEIR parents had short hair when they were their age. Thus, long hair has lost much of the "ageing hippie" stigma and become fashionable again. Even very slightly rebellious - though of course never to the extent that the first 1960s wave was!
Yeah, love that page in your link. I left a comment on that page a few months ago. ;)
Damon
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I would agree. For that reason, many rebelled by doing things
like getting face piercings, nose piercings, wearing pants with the underwear showing, etc. Every generation finds new ways to rebel against the status quo.
But then I'm not going to complain about this generation. I spent 49 years battling the status quo, so future generations were following my lead.
I resemble that remark.
I have to disagree. Long hair on men is still considered to be
an "aging Hippie." All I have to do is look in the mirror to confirm that.
But then for this "aging hippie" my long hair will remain long until the day I die. And this aging hippie will also continue to wear cut off shorts as I have the last 49 years.
Yeah, I've been called a "hippie" by my mates on occasion too - but they say it with a smile and leave out the "ageing" bit. Especially when I say something really laid-back like Neil from "The Young Ones" (UK TV show from the 1980s). Neil is second from right in the attached pic.
Damon
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Now I really am one of those "aging hippies."
I started growing my hair in 1964, by the late 1960s my hair was much longer, and I very much looked like, dressed like, and acted like a hippie. I very much enjoyed that hippe era,
it was a great time to be alive and to be in the long hair
farming business. If I had to do it over I would not change a thing. The only things this hippie didn't do was protest the
war (too busy enjoying life, enjoying music, enjoying friends etc.) or do drugs,
So now in 2013 I really am one of those aging hippies.
During all the years i've had long hair I considered the
Aging Hippie comment to be a complement, that I had finally reached the point where my hair was long, that it stayed
long, and wasn't going to be cut.
So this aging hippie was one of those leading the way for
new male long hairs who in later years chose to join us
in the business of long hair farming.
Awesome band. Awesome song.
Here is another one. The lead singer of REM in the 90's (however, at least some of the band members kept their longer hair)
Here is the same group/lead singer back in the early 80's