Thursday Thirteen #68: Pop Culture Myths Debunked

While listening to the radio on the way to work I learned that Wednesday is "Debunking Day", the day to disprove rumors and myths. As a result, I decided to finish up a T13 I started last year. Over the years, myths and untruths in the world of pop culture have been repeated so much that people start to accept them as fact. This week, I've taken my debunking ax to 13 of them.

If you agree/disagree or have a pop culture myth of your own that you want to shoot to hell, please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thirteen Pop Culture Myths, Debunked

1. The Best New Artist Grammy is the career "Kiss of Death"- Although there have been artists who saw their careers nosedive shortly after winning the award (The Starland Vocal Band, Rickie Lee Jones, and Marc Cohn to name a few), several honorees have had long and successful careers. Bobby Darin, The Beatles, The Carpenters, Natalie Cole, Mariah Carey, and Sheryl Crow are just some of the Best New Artist Grammy winners who avoided the so-called "kiss of death".












2. Diana Ross discovered The Jackson Five- In 1969, in order to increase public curiosity, Motown's marketing team decided to attach the Jackson Five to a name star. As a result, label superstar Diana Ross was chosen as the one who "discovered" the brothers from Gary, IN. However, several artists had caught the Jackson Five's act long before Diana knew about them. Back in 1967, Gladys Knight recommended the group to Motown chief Berry Gordy. However, Gordy was reluctant to take on another child act at the time (the then teenage Stevie Wonder was already on the roster). Also preceding Diana's "discovery" was Bobby Taylor (leader of the Motown group Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers). He brought the Jackson Five to Detroit for an audition with Berry in 1968.














3. Elvis Presley was a lousy actor- Sure, many of Elvis' films required him to do little more than ogle the ladies and sing a handful of non-descript tunes. If Elvis were alive today, he'd probably admit that Harum Scarum was no Citizen Kane. However, on those rare occasions when Elvis was given decent material, he acquitted himself rather nicely. For those who doubt the thespian abilities of The Pelvis, check him out in Jailhouse Rock, Loving You, King Creole, Wild In the Country, Flaming Star, and Roustabout.















4. The Monkees couldn't play instruments- Because of music supervisor Don Kirschner's iron-fisted control, most of the instrumental work on the Monkees' first two albums was done by session players. This led people to believe that The Monkees couldn't play. However, as Micky Dolenz has pointed out, it wasn't that they couldn't play... they weren't allowed to play. Although they always played their own instruments in concert, it wasn't until the ousting of Kirschner that The Monkees were given artistic control in the studio. On their 3rd and 4th albums (esp. the 3rd), it's mainly Mike, Micky, Davy, and Peter that you hear playing. For whatever reason (possibly expediency or maybe waning interest within the group), the band reverted to the "Kirschner model" and mainly employed studio musicians on their LPs starting with their 5th album (The Birds, the Bees, and The Monkees).











5. Most child stars have tragic lives as adults- Because former child stars such as Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Adam Rich and the kids from Diff'rent Strokes had trouble adjusting once the limelight faded, it can be easy to forget that many others have had successful careers once they reached the age of 18. Jodie Foster, Ron Howard, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Janet Jackson, and Neil Patrick Harris are just a few who have debunked the "tragic former child star" myth. Not only that, but several former child stars have successful careers outside of show business once they grow up. For example, Danielle Spencer (Dee from What's Happening) is a veterinarian and Missy Gold (Gov. Gatling's daughter Katie on Benson) is a psychologist in Maine.














6. MTV used to be great- Because the cable channel has devolved into "reality crap central", people refer to the early days of MTV as great. It was better than it is now, but let's not get carried away. During MTV's "glory days", viewers were given a whole lotta repetition with little variety. While Michael Jackson, Madonna, and pretty boy new wave and hair metal bands were in constant rotation, quality (but less photogenic) artists like The Smithereens received scant airtime. Furthermore, for a channel that claimed to be on the cutting edge, MTV didn't fully embrace rap music until late 80s; nearly 10 years after the genre entered the mainstream. Oh... and don't get me started on the fact that even though black artists were making music videos, you scarcely saw them on MTV until Michael Jackson's Billie Jean revolutionized the genre.












7. Old=classic- Sorry, but just because a show was made over 30 years ago does not make it a classic.











8. Rock and roll "died" between 1959 and 1964- Many have thrown dirt on this period of rock and roll (roughly between Buddy Holly's plane crash and The Beatles' landing in America). Other losses include Elvis' Army induction, Chuck Berry going to jail, the banning of Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard leaving rock 'n' roll in favor of religion. Although these were terrible blows, several artists were around to pick up the slack. Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, and The Beach Boys all made some rockin' tunes during this period. Not only that, but Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" was in full bloom and a little label called Motown was turning into a hit-making machine.


9. Seinfeld is a "show about nothing"- This myth probably began with early episodes such as "The Chinese Restaurant" and "The Parking Garage" that focused on the little things in everyday life. However, Seinfeld was also capable of intricately plotted episodes such as "The Betrayal" (where the scenes are shown in reverse chronological order), "The Rye", "The Opposite", and "The Fusilli Jerry" (aka the "ASSMAN" episode).











10. The "SNL curse"- Due to the early deaths of John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, and Chris Farley, it's been said that the award-winning sketch series is cursed. However, when one considers that SNL has been on since 1975 and has had over 100 former and current cast members, the "curse" theory goes out the window.









11. Soap operas consist of nothing but outlandish plots- Because the crazy storylines get the most ink (for example, Timmy the doll being brought to life on Passions and Marlena being possessed by The Devil on DOOL), it's often forgotten that daytime dramas have often been more progressive than their primetime counterparts when it comes to tackling serious issues. Early episodes of All My Children delved into the Vietnam War debate, One Life To Live had a black character (Carla Gray) who passed for white, and As the World Turns made history by featuring the first gay male "supercouple" on daytime TV.

12. Ted McGinley is the "patron saint of jumping the shark"- Because Ted had the misfortune of joining long-running shows on their last legs (Happy Days and The Love Boat), some feel that his becoming a series cast member means that it's time to sound the death knell. Let's be honest though, Happy Days had turned to shit long before Ted came on the scene. After all, the episode that gave birth to the term "jump the shark" was three years before he joined the show. Not only that, but Married... with Children lasted for 6 years after Ted became a regular.















13. They don't make 'em like they used to- This is along the lines of #s 6 and 7 on the list. Often, I hear people lamenting that movies, TV and music aren't as good as they used to be. The thing is, there was plenty of crap that came out in the so-called "good old days". However, much of it is rarely shown or played anymore so it's often forgotten. Although present day pop culture has its share of garbage, there is plenty of quality to be found. It just may take some of us a little time to appreciate it. Mark my words, in about 20 years, you'll hear people waxing nostalgically about how great entertainment was in the early part of the 21st century.

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