I've been thinking about The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" for the better part of the last 25 years. The song saw the future more clearly than Nostradamus ever did. What radio star, precisely, did video kill? Hundreds, perhaps, that we have never heard of were strangled in the crib. But what of the ones we had heard of, and cranked radio volumes to eleven during the pre-MTV seventies? Meatloaf and Billy Squire are two rock stars whose careers collapsed shortly after MTV aired The Buggles's prophetic song on August 1, 1981. But if I could pick one radio star who wasn't destined to continue stardom in the video age it would be Steve Miller.
Rolling Stone has an outstanding piece on the sonic bard of Dallas, Texas, he of "The Joker" and "Jungle Love" fame. "In 1983, everything was pretty much over for me," Miller confesses to Rolling Stone while "smoking a cigar in a posh New York hotel room." The 64-year-old remembers, "Bands like X were the big thing in L.A., and my work was being called unmitigated slop. I said to myself, 'I get it! I'm outta here! Stop kicking me, I'm leaving.'"
Miller notes in the piece that he never gets noticed. Like pre-Wall Pink Floyd, Steve Miller is one of those rock stars who could walk through a shopping mall without anyone asking for his autograph. Part of the anonymity stems from his career as a radio star. Part of it stems from his regular-guy appearance. If Steve Miller were a criminal, he would be one that would drive sketch artists crazy. It's telling the one video I can recall Miller releasing--1982's "Abracadabra"--I don't remember him appearing in. The image of him etched in my mind is of a face hiding behind oversized sunglasses. He explained to Rolling Stone, "I used to be able to go into a record store, buy Steve Miller CDs, give 'em my Steve Miller credit card and walk out. I don't have to deal with that celebrity kind of business."
So how is it that a forgettable face who hasn't released an original album in fifteen years and hasn't had a hit since 1982 packs summer-shed venues from coast-to-coast? It's because good music is timeless. It doesn't need gimmicks, like bizarre costumes or hair, to get by. Miller plays straight-up, unpretentious rock 'n' roll. Some of it is pedestrian, particularly after the 700th listen. All of it is straightforward rock 'n' roll. People like having a good time, and "Rockin' Me," "Take the Money and Run," and "Jet Airliner" are a soundtrack for having a good time.
If video killed the radio star, constant touring, a greatest-hits album ubiquitous as a staple of music collections, and album-oriented radio caught in a '70s time loop can bring him back to life. Who needs MTV when you have classic rock stations spinning your records at saturation levels for 35 years and counting?
When you're good, you're good. And will be revered and remembered. Unlike most of the bands nowadays that will be periodic wonders forgotten in 20 years only to surface as a trivia question.
My Tom Petty page on pandora plays a lot of Steve Miller and I've developed a new found appreciation for him.
More mellatron.
