Sex Appeal and Contemporary Music
Sex Appeal and Contemporary Music
Madonna wrote a book about it. Did Marilyn Manson alter his? Just about every other musician flaunts theirs. What is it? Sex. For some time now, sex and sexuality have been as much a part of rock 'n' roll as the music itself. These days just about everyone acknowledges sex's place in music, from sexy dancers in videos, to the skimpy clothes of the performers, to the sexually explicit lyrics found in every music genre from country to metal. Sexuality in music wasn't always so blatant, and does not seem to be slowing down.
Back in the 50s Elvis shocked the moral majority with his suggestive dancing, which amounted to gyrating his hips. Because of his suggestive dancing, only his head was allowed to be shown on television. Now, it's not unusual for rock videos to show nearly naked women, or for explicit descriptions of sex to be found in songs. With his powerful lyrics and natural hip swinging sexuality he became a teen idol and a role model for the generations of cool rebels. He was repeatedly labeled as being vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence among the young teens that enjoyed his music. Of the recordings Elvis made he brought with them a new sound that became an essential quality of his musical work.
Another example of the sexual explicitness of rock music can be found with Jim Morrision. The Doors' dramatic delivery of poetic lyrics set to a classic blues/rock beat won them many fans, but Jim's character won them just as many. Morrison was prone to vulgar displays of self-indulgence onstage. From the beginning, the Doors were barred from playing in many clubs in San Francisco because of Morrison's tendency to mimic sexual self-gratification onstage, many times using the microphone stand as a penile extension (Marsh 1996). "Light My Fire" was full of sexual innuendo. Morrison never failed to deliver to his audience a truly captivating rock 'n' roll show.
The era of blatant sexual imagery and lyrics begun with the creation of MTV. The artist whom exploited this to the fullest was Madonna. Although Madonna has reached stardom, her fans admit that she didn't achieve fame from her voice alone. The singer actually has a very limited vocal range. Madonna is a strong, sexy performer who capitalized on her ability to...