ROCK-O-LLECTIONS

By Frank “Smokin” Truatt

I still tend to watch all those awards shows that pop up on television in what seems to be at least once a month. Last week’s award show was the big one for MTV. Yes, MTV still does their Video Music Awards even though most of us don’t turn to MTV to watch videos anymore. First, with all these awards shows to watch, I never watch them in real-time. That’s what the DVR is for. The commercial breaks are always long, and certain acts need to be fast forwarded through just to keep your sanity. I read some reviews on this particular MTV award show, with some calling it a star-studded event featuring today’s biggest names and songs. It’s hard to believe that this is the 40th MTV awards show. It seems like the heyday of MTV, 1984, couldn’t possibly be forty years in the past! A lot has changed over the history of this event. The past three years featured hosts Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat. The first year was hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler. Year two’s host was Eddie Murphy, and then for a couple of years it was those MTV VJ’s we all loved to watch. An event that started in Radio City Music Hall is now in the hockey arena in Elmont, New York. The first three years saw the video of the year winners be The Cars, Don Henley and Dire Straits. The most recent three winners were, well, of course Taylor Swift in three videos directed by…. Taylor Swift. MTV was fun to watch in the early days, but, of course, television was the only way to view the limited number of videos that were being created. Today, every song released has an official video, whether or not it’s a hit, and we can watch those videos the day they’re released on the internet. As far as the artists performing this year, for me, it was kind of a freak show. With crazy outfits and bizarre sets, an artist clad in armor, an alien (one from outer-space), drag queens and a plethora of tattoos, the music seemed to play second fiddle to the over the top production during each performance. It’s a far cry from 40 years ago, but in today’s fast paced world, it seems that to keep the attention of the audience you need flaming sets and a ton of dancers on stage to create the excitement the crowd expects. Check out an old video of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. No dancers, a basic background with four guys and their musical instruments, just great music with total hysteria and screaming so loud you could hardly hear the band! Now, that’s entertainment!