I want my MTV

Michael Jackson was as profound an influence on MTV as any artist. There may have been people who found the medium of music videos creative, leading to videos by A-Ha, Peter Gabriel, and yes, even Michael Jackson.

Jackson started the dance video. Well, at least, I'm crediting him with it. Others followed suit. MC Hammer, Madonna, Paula Abdul, and sister, Janet Jackson. They taught the public how to dance with a lead singer/dancer and several precision dancers.

But music videos never caught on in the US. MTV and VH-1 couldn't attract viewers to watch more than a few minutes. They had to create shows like Real World or some flashback to the 80s, to keep viewers from switching channels. Pretty soon, the station that brought you music videos all the time, abandonded it for anything but videos.

But there's one country where song and dance have always been popular.

India.

A typical Indian movie is positive, either comedic, or just plain happy. There's dancing and singing. The singing is always dubbed and alas they want a certain voice for male and female singing, that makes them blandly one like the other. You'll not find a Leonard Cohen type among Indian singers, and all the women sing in this falsetto, "I'm 13" voice.

The dancing seems clearly inspired by Michael Jackson, except there's usually a female involved too.

Indians have this peculiar restriction. No kissing. There's a puritannical streak among Indians. Many look down on alcohol too. It's not quite banned, but a family restaurant wouldn't sell alcohol. Drink of the devil, you know.

Despite this lack of kissing, any manner of gyration is potentially possible. Midriffs showing? Check. Hip gyrating? Check. Simulated sex? Check. Women pretending to slap guys around? Women dominating guys? Check and check!

To be fair, such "women is powerful" videos are somewhat uncommon, but I saw at least one that fit the bill.

Furthermore, I have no idea what percentage of Indians watch these videos, but it says something that many of these stations still show videos!

I think MTV would like to create a revolution that allows singer/songwriters to start up, instead of dance oriented videos. The music industry seems a bit like that of Hong Kong, where beautiful women who can sing are groomed (much like Whitney Houston) for success. Lyrics and songs are written for them. They just sing. I bet MTV wants something rawer, wants more originality, less glitz, and would love their station to transform Indian music by encouraging bands to start up, much like their English counterparts.

The other channels I would see on cable? Americans have religious folks preaching on TV. Indians appear to have yogis and such, stretching and speaking. A few channels had such yogis.

There were some historical dramas going on too, about ancient India.

Of course, some Western shows too. I wonder, though, how many people have access to cable? I feel like it's like the 1970s USA for cable in India, though maybe early 80s is closer to correct. Certainly, more international than anything you get in the US.

Anyway, next time you wonder what happened to Michael Jackson, his spirit is alive in India, singing and dancing away.