But...
If you look at all the "aging" (male) rock stars / musicians out there right now, how many have stayed in their genre and stayed with a specific "aesthetic"?
Meaning, the dark horses (metal heads, rock n rollers) like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, KISS.. they've primarily all had the makeup and long hair, but only kept their facial hair for a brief minute. If you turn to the internet and find their older photos, they've only had a type of mustache or beard for half a season. It never stayed with them, as much as their outfits or ponytails have. We remember them more with eye makeup and long hair, rather than a polo shirt and a goatee.
Yet, the bands known more for their cleaner looks for the most part of their careers - the Beatles, The Beach Boys.. these bands known for positivity - have a good mix of cropped head hair with some sort of facial hair. They've got promotional material where they're either clean shaven or they're with fur on their face. We remember both sides of the conversational picture.
I could be wrong with this, but I got to thinking today, how those male celebrities that are profiled to be more into the gothic and dark look, have kind of remained clean cut in a way. Yes, they have long hair, but it's not unruly. It's just that they don't keep their face full of scruff. We think that the things they sing about and how they dress make them bad people because they're all in dark clothing, but they also portray some sort of light as well.
I can't explain it and I know I'm doing a horrible job of trying to get my point across. But the death of Ozzy got me wondering how much of his peers (/ generation / music in general) really aren't as bad as they're made out to be?
It's all theatrics; a stage show; presence. The Beatles were the same working class lads as Ozzy and Bowie, but I feel like the four Scousers attempted to beef up their pop look a little more with smart ties and later long hair, beards and kaftans (then back to clean for another minute), rather than what the art student from Brixton attempted to do with a soul patch in the 1990s. DB was on his own plane and kept it clean until the drum n bass years (and then went back to clean). He may had had long hair or a mop top during some decades, but he also had a rooster cut and an earring. With the Brummie, he had scruff in the very early 70s for a minute but that was while he was growing his hair out. Cooper's mustache was mid 1970s for an album but didn't last as he went full eye liner instead. We know Jimi Hendrix had his fro and goatee, but his thing was psychedelic. Much like Prince - curls, 'stache and a little patch but he did it with soul and finesse.
The new school artists.. NIN, Foo Fighters, Van Halen.. all too had some form of facial mix. The front man, the string man or the percussion man.. Only one person was allowed to have something fun on their face at one time, it seems. Not everyone in the band got to look the same at once. If they did, it was again, only for some promotion and didn't stick.
Again, I could be wrong. I'm also not lumping certain people into this post. I feel that it's within all genres of music, not just metal or rock. It's pop, rap, soul, everything. I'm not name checking all of the artists of the world, but just some I can think of, off the top of my head, without diving into an online image search. It's just one of those things where I'm like "isn't it a bit odd, that we profile certain people for something totally weird, yet, they don't look like they'd fir that stereotype?". For example, if I were to start comparing other genres, what's going on in the rap game, it seems like there's decent mix of tattoos, beards, mustaches, goatees, dreads, fades and sagging pants. Only a handful then would be faded in the head hair and clean in the cheek hair. Country has their jeans, boots, cowboy hat and acoustic guitar. I feel like Willie Nelson may be one of a handful of musicians that has a full beard and long hair. Everyone else keeps things cropped tight. This is real country, not neo country / rap like Shaboozey, Jelly Roll or Post Malone - the crossover guys. Or just plain new country like Morgan Wallen. I feel like the new school guys are trying to appeal to everyone, no matter what station they're singing on.
I'm not trying to be offensive, so I apologize if anything sounds that way. I just felt like there's this weird disconnect on what we think we know of a genre and what we really see. Everyone does their own thing and it just seems so surreal and doesn't fully match what we think the "type" should be. As long as we're not fighting with each other anywhere, does it really matter in the end? Let the music speak for itself and if you learn something new, more power to you. All we hear is stuff to make us think and ask questions about. If you can research what you listen to and see what type of history is involved with it, you've expanded your knowledge base and can share with someone else.
Which is what I try to do. I listen to as much podcasts as I can and I read a lot of books. If I can share what I see or hear, I do. If it's something that I really can't divulge the secret of, I don't. It's all in a day's experience, no matter how new or old it is.
So go out and do some digging - either in the grass and plant a tree or in the interwebs and find something new to tell your friends about. Be grateful of what's out there and stay out of the heat if you can. The rain is coming in places and the Saharan Dust is covering others. Take care of yourselves.
Cheers
