Ben Tausig
By 1982, Thomas Morgan Robertson had recorded music with Def Leppard, Camera Club, and Foreigner, written a song for the rap group Whodini, and engineered for The Fall. A diverse and successful resume for a musician, indeed, although certainly an odd assortment of collaborations. And all of this came before the man known to music history as Thomas Dolby released his first popular single, the new wave classic "She Blinded Me With Science." Later, Dolby worked with musicians from George Clinton to Stevie Wonder to Joni Mitchell, and also produced the soundtrack to the cinematic masterpiece Howard the Duck.
As incredible as these achievements are, they are not necessarily unusual for musicians, especially those who dabble in production, electronics, and even non-musical art forms. The mark of musicians can be found in all kinds of strange places, from commercials to movies to art galleries.
For instance, Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame) scored The Truth about De-evolution, the film which helped to launch Devo's philosophy. He later wrote the theme music to children's shows, such as "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" and "The Rugrats" as well as the score to films including Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. Arguably, such ventures are fairly standard. They represent steady work in an area that always needs new music-movies and TV. When you get too old to be a rock star, which Mark Mothersbaugh is, it's not a bad backup plan.
But it's not only musicians as seasoned as Mothersbaugh who lend or sell their talents. Popular contemporary acts from Tortoise to The Crystal Method, Britney Spears to L7 and Jim O'Rourke can be heard in television commercials. Musician and pioneering producer Brian Eno even composed the Window's start-up theme. Of course, it's easy to say that lending one's artistic ability as a musician to a commercial endeavor is selling out, but it's also important to consider the circumstances. Naturally, all of the aforementioned artists have entirely different kinds of musical careers, and undoubtedly they all have a different view of what it means to allow their songs to be used in commercials which have little or no connection to the aesthetic side of their music. Is it obscene to sell your music to a commercial, but acceptable if you sell the same music to a film? Is any of this any different than selling your music on CD? Clearly these are questions which require the perspective of the individual artist to be answered, and will indeed be answered differently by everyone.
There are also times when musicians turn to, or are predisposed towards, careers separate from music entirely. Musicians do exhibit non-musical talents. As disastrous as this can be (see Ringo Starr) there are times when it works out quite well. Before collaborating with Frank Zappa and later forming the Magic Band, for instance, Don Van Vliet (better known as Captain Beefheart) was a child prodigy as a painter. He's continued to produce art since retiring from music, and his work is critically acclaimed to this day. David Berman of the rock band the Silver Jews has written and published works of poetry. But then again, I guess, so has Jewel. Here, once more, the question of "is it legitimate?" comes up. And again, the individual circumstances must be considered. It may well be said that David Berman's poetry doesn't sound like pop lyrics, while Jewel's poetry smacks of being just that. In the case of Don Van Vliet, his life as a painter, drawer, and writer began well before his life in music, and has since outlived it. It wouldn't be fair to denounce Van Vliet for having an interesting, creative life beyond The Magic Band. In all of these instances, the musicians show a depth, albeit in varying degrees, beyond their existence as a musician. In some sense, this depth shouldn't be much of a surprise (even in Jewel's example), but to many people it is.
And acting? From David Bowie to Jennifer Lopez to Will Smith to Eddie Vedder, there's been no shortage of musicians on the big screen. The differences here are more glaring than perhaps anywhere mentioned thus far. David Bowie is arguably as much an actor as a musician, having appeared or starred in at least twenty non-documentary feature films (including The Man Who Fell to Earth, Labyrinth, The Last Temptation of Christ, Basquiat, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me) since 1969. Will Smith sort of worked his career as an actor alongside his career as a musician, perhaps for commercial rather than artistic purposes. Jennifer Lopez began her career as a Fly Girl on In Living Color, moving later to acting and then once more to music. Eddie Vedder made an appearance in the film Singles. There is little similarity among these artists in their film careers. And it's very probable that they all view the relationship between their acting and their music very differently.
So can anyone ever say, in all fairness, that musicians whose work or who themselves appear outside of music are "selling out?" Probably not. As human beings, musicians have a variety of motivations, backgrounds, outlooks, and interests which determine what they do and who they do it for. Not all side projects are created equal.
Ben Tausig can be contacted at [email protected].