Fish Out of Water

I started my new job yesterday and I felt like a fish out of water. We're talking a 360 degree turn in what I used to do for a living. You take the good with the bad in life, and have to push yourself to grow I suppose.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the writing was on the mall for many Glam bands. As the music industry embraced change, artists either had to evolve with the times or get pushed to the side. Some Glam bands like Dangerous Toys tried to change their look and sound but just ended up alienating fans.

Other bands like RATT stayed pretty true to their original, sleazy leanings. While bands like Motley Crue were big enough to ride the wave of the unforgiving 90s, smaller acts like Danger Danger and Trixter were gobbled up and eaten by the music machine.

Suppose all the Glam bands we love, from the biggest acts down to the most obscure garage acts had stayed true to their sound and rode the storm. Grunge probably wouldn't have hit quite so big, but there are still reasons why Seattle bands ran L.A. musicians out of bars all along the Sunset Strip.

See, if I didn't push myself to take on a new challenge, I might not fail. While I can produce a live newscast half asleep and with one hand tied behind my back, that doesn't mean I should just go with the comfortable forever.

I believe Glam bands should have stuck together and fought back against the record industry, especially in the lean years between 1995 and 2000. Such a fight might not have meant endless band break-ups, poor releases and lackluster album sales.

Still, there is something to be said for toil. Practice makes perfect and all that jazz. The whole bit about "how bad do you want it?"

None of us ever know what the future holds - every day is, after all, a pure gamble. Still, I think it's ironic that the very bands that were mocked but a decade ago and now on the comeback trail, much like the politicians vying for votes today in primary elections all across the United States.

For if not toil, there is no comeback. With no comeback, there is no praise. I guess in a way, I'm saying absence has made the heart grow fonder - at least in my case. It's a romantic notion, dreaming about my Glam bands in their heyday.

Back to me and the new job. As I was daydreaming that my situation was close to that of many musicians, it dawned on me that I didn't feel normal until I was at the gym with my iPod. Music has become so ingrained in my everyday life that I feel a little off kilter if I'm not listening on a regular basis. It was funny: I stepped on the treadmill and nothing else mattered (pun intended).

I guess for awhile, each new day will be a challenge. With my music, I will survive.

Comments

[Joe]

Great article Allyson..and best of luck on your new job =)

[fletch]

Hang in there Allyson and remember to listen to this too, when working out...(perhaps on a stair climber)

"I get up and nothing gets me down!
You've got it tough?
I've seen the toughest around!
And I know...baby just how you feel!
You've got to role with those punches
And get to what's REAL!" -JUMP

Keep Runnin' on the treadmill!

Peace,
fletch

[George]

Good luck with your new job. It always takes a while to get used to a new job. I always think it takes a good year or two till a person is used to their new work, their co-workers, etc. It's always good to take some risks in life though. It's what keeps things interesting. I'm actually sort-of-kind-of in the news business myself so I can relate to the stresses that go with it.

[Valentine]

Good luck, Allyson. Whenever I've started a new job - especially one that was totally different from the previous one - I made it a little habit to sneak in the metal horns at times where you wouldn't normally see them... Meeting the president of the company for the first time? Discreetly flash the horns as he turns his back... Learn a new skill that's required? Throw up the horns when nobody's looking... New boss lecturing you on something corporate? Drop a pencil and flash the horns when you pick it up.

It will help you stay true to self. Trust me. And it's better if you wear an motely tee shirt under your button down shirt.

[Metal Mark]

Good luck at your new job.

I think a big part of the downfall of glam/hard rock in 90-92 had to do with the labels signing too many bands without plans on how to use and effectiviely promote them. A big part of the problem with why these bands couldn't "ride out the storm" in the mid-late 90's is because there were no labels to go to over here. There were very few indie hard rock labels then like there are now so these bands that got dropped by their major labels after hard rock fell often didn't have anywhere to go at least not with their same sound. So some faded away and some tried to change with the times. I am probably just stating the obvious though, but it's still sticks with me because I was still trying to support hard rock as it fell out of favor in the early 1990's.

[fletch]

Valentine,

Your suggestions made me laugh. I always wear rock tees under my professional clothing instead of standard undershirts!

Peace,
fletch

[aXe mAn]

Great great article Allyson. Very interesting and well written. And also, good luck with the new job!

[Peaceloving and gun owning Tommy]

The decline of glam could be attributed to one band whose lead singer would have stave of the alternative music movement if he would have only made his last action a few years sooner.

Of course, I wouldn't say anything mean spirited like that at all!

[Allyson]

Guys,

Thank you for the support. You don't know how much it means to me.

Allyson

[Kenny Ozz "Drugstore Valentine"]

Im sure you will suceed at your new job. You are an extremely smart and amazing woman. Rock on Allyson.