3 MUSICIANS WHO USED A LOOK TO ACHIEVE SUPERSTARDOM

 3 TIMES MUSICIANS USED A LOOK TO ACHIEVE SUPERSTARDOM

WARNING: Survivorship bias __AND__ confirmation bias ahead. The very act of choosing these examples is subject both to survivorship bias (i.e. I'm not choosing musicians who had a look and failed) and confirmation bias (I am selecting examples which confirm my thesis.)

 

SIA I happen to hold the opinion that Sia is one of the great singers of the modern era.  She's not only technically proficient, her performances evoke emotional depth and power.  You would think that such a voice is all you'd need to achieve superstardom but I think the general public might feel otherwise.

It would also be my opinion that Sia's decision to hide her face ("her look") was a stroke of genius that helped propel her to superstardom.  That and having Ellen as a fan, which couldn't hurt.

We have to ask ourselves the question: what is the effect on watching a performance from a powerful singer whose face has been intentionally concealed?  Well, I think the obvious answer is that it makes us want to look deeper.

I haven't checked recently but you once could go on Sia's YouTube channel and view her music video offerings in reverse chronological order back to her first videos in 2007.  The early videos are unremarkable from a visual perspective.

THE ROBOTS AKA DAFT PUNK - You might ask where Sia might have picked up on this strategy?  Might it be the nerdy electronic French House music duo Daft Punk?  According to what I read on Wikipedia, the dafty punkers had a previous incarnation in rather a pedantic rock band not unlike some of the music acts I was associated with back in the day.  Perhaps a little boring.  If you return to the roots of Daft Punk you might say their music of the 90s was a little simplistic, a little silly, nothing of consequence.  Yet while other pioneers of the era continue to labor away in obscurity Daft Punk has capitulated to Hollywood success with an endorsement deal with both Crest Toothpaste and Preparation H.  Could it be the unwillingness to show their faces increased interest from a bored public?  Dead Maus may or may not be copying the Daft.

In the words of Steve Jobs, "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

KISS - Back in the "olden days" before smartphones there was this thing called "arena rock".  Men with guitars and long hair would pounce around on stage, screaming and sweating and grabbing their crotches like anyone ever thought that would be a sexy move.  And sometimes they would also play music.  Among these giants of pop culture was the one band, the biggest band of the decade, the one musical act that had no equal.  They were the band of sold-out stadiums and global tours.

They were the biggest band in the world and arguably, nobody had any idea what they looked like because they always appeared in their "alternate ego" selves.  Apparently this was called glam rock.  You can dress like a Klingon emperor moonlighting as a Kabuki doll and the teenagers will think it's cool.  Just as long as you have a guitar.

SUMMARY - As a colophon to this post, I want to draw your attention once again to this anthem heralding the beginning of the MTV era: where arguably "image" became just as important or even "more important" than the music itself.

The song is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.  You've probably never heard of The Buggles but the records produced by Trevor Horn you have heard millions of times.  My personal favorite production from Horn is the debut single from British singer "Seal" - CRAZY.

Since we're on the subject of crazy, let's be clear that describes us and this crazy dream and nobody says it better than Gnarls.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N4jf6rtyuw