MissingPersons wrote:Scandinavian? Apart from Europe (well, they are usually labelled as Glam Metal, but I believe they were more an AOR band with a Glam Metal image, as I said) I don't recall any other Scandinavian AOR band.
Don't let ANYONE tell you Europe was glam-metal. They were more in-line with someone like Bon Jovi and other AOR bands. They had no 'glam' image.
I am a lifelong new wave fanatic. I was never 'too hip' to like AOR during the eighties, but have become a little more obsessive about it in the last 5 years or so---actively seeking out 80's AOR artists that I was unfamiliar with at the time. To that end, I've recently discovered scandenavian bands like Stage Dolls, 220 Volt or Scagarak --- none of which were well-known in the states but certainly could've been.
MrOktober wrote:There might very well be bands like Journey or Huey Lewis & News out there today, playing at your local bar. On Top 40 radio, it's about club/dance music. That's what the visually focused, short attention span, instant gratification kids of today are into. Bland white guys with no "image" just aren't cool enough, no matter what their music sounds like. OK, I'm sounding like an old man now
hmmmm...perhpas there are current AOR-style bands lurking out there, but WHY can't they break out? You'd THINK it would've been harder in the 80's when the 'visual' impact of MTV and actual music-video-broadcast was more pervasive. But somehow relatively bland-looking guys like Bryan Adams or Toto were able to compete with the more visually appealing Duran. But even Duran was a BAND, hell i'll even call them a ROCK BAND, who wrote their own songs, played their own instruments, etc. Ahhh, i'm just painting myself into corners with this conundrum.
I still think the basic problem is that for some reason, kids today just aren't into standard-issue rock. (they'll get into niches like death metal, indie, etc). Even if all the band members were as 'cute' as Bieber, if they performed basic rock songs they would probably fail in the marketplace.
I'm starting to think this era of top-40 is similar to the 50's era of top-40. In the 50's it was all about the 45's, the hits...nobody cared about the album, same as today. Also, most of the stars of the 50's were fairly superficial (exceptions like buddy holly and the rockabilly contingent duly noted) and probably even looks-driven. Not alot of concern for musical integrity I'm guessing. The listeners were mostly young girls.... maybe i'm onto something?