Take My Breath Away” was one of the quintessential songs
of the ’80s, but Berlin, the band that wrote the song, faded
from memory quicker than Chia Pets.
VH1, much to my approval, brought Berlin back for one night on
“Bands Reunited.” What surprised me most about the show
was the current status of the former band members ““ working
loss prevention at a guitar store and in graphic design. Is this
what rock stars of the ’80s do these days?
After watching the Romeo Void episode, I began to wonder where
the money went. Though the songs stay with us even into the 21st
century, why do the artists behind them fade into the woodwork?
While watching “The Fabulous Life,” more questions
arose. How is it that rock stars of the late ’90s have so
much more money than rock stars from the ’80s? The members of
Berlin, who had several major hits in the ’80s, now have to
work day jobs. How is it that Britney Spears is worth somewhere in
the double digit millions and the ’80s rockers that penned
the hit song from “Top Gun” don’t have enough
money left over to retire?
I always assumed that the music industry was a surefire way to
make enough money to never lift a finger again. But after seeing
“Bands Reunited” on VH1, I realized that musicians
don’t make as much as I thought, despite selling millions of
records. Of course they make more than minimum wage and can buy
fancy stuff at the time, but is it worth it if after a decade they
fade back into obscurity and have to get a 9-to-5 job like
everybody else?
Flash back to 1996, when the band TLC had the number one album
in the country but was declaring bankruptcy. What are the stars of
today doing differently? Or is the music industry not as
lucrative as we thought? After pondering this, I saw a few
commercials. Then the words Pepsi and Sketchers popped in my
head. That must be it! Endorsements!
In the past few years more musicians have been whoring
themselves out to major corporations to make a few extra bucks. But
after thinking about stars like Christina Aguilera and Britney
Spears, maybe it’s more like the jackpot than a few extra
dollars.
It seems that the rockers of yesteryear missed out on the prize.
But the overexposure of recent pop stars has made the pop star icon
integral to marketing campaigns of huge companies, thus
considerably lining their pockets in lieu of the money that they
don’t always get from their own record sales.
If most of the profit from record sales isn’t going to the
bands or singers, then that means it’s going to the record
labels. And here they are whining and crying about file sharing
when Britney Spears has sold 50 million records worldwide, and they
get most of that money. Fifty million records times, say, $10
profit per CD; hmm, you do the math.Â
The normalcy of 1980s band members is what makes “Bands
Reunited” so fun to watch. They are just normal people who
happened to win a Grammy in 1983. Now every time I am standing
in line at the bank I’ll be wondering if the guy in front of
me with the tool belt and the 5 o’clock shadow was the
original drummer from Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Maybe VH1 will
bring them back so I don’t have to wonder.Â