[Originally appeared in Eastern Connecticut State University's Campus Lantern student newspaper in the early '90s and part of my unpublished manuscript "In Mediocrity We Trust... In Debt We Die" And Other Essays]
There once was a time when the most successful musicians were the ones with the most ability, talent and/or those who had the best live on-stage performance. That was before MTV and lip-synching became in vogue. [Note: In the '80s and part of the '90s MTV actually did play a lot of music and few or no so-called Reality Shows]
The pre-MTV [and arguably even "American Idol"] formula for success in the music industry was (for the most part) A: having genuine musical talent or B: having undergone many years of either singing, dancing and/or instrumental lessons. Looks were sometimes an asset (Stevie Nicks, Olivia Newton-John, etc.), but weren't necessary ( Janis Joplin, Mama Cass Elliott) provided one had real musical talent. (to be cont'd)
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