Pour some patchouli oil on the ground for your fallen homie: American Idol hopeful Jason Castro and his braided mane of unwashed hair became an Idol castoff last night, damned to walk in the wimpy footsteps of Sanjaya as contestants whose novel hairstyles could only take them so far.  Many Idol pundits (if those exist) attribute his relative success on the show to his distinctive hairstyle that endeared him to viewers and made him recognizable amongst the more hygienically inclined contestants.  Surely, he owes the dirt, oil, and miscellaneous gunk (not including shampoo) floating through the air into his locks for his placement on America's favorite singing competition.

However, pop music has proven unkind to our brothers with a distinct aversion to washing or maintaining their hair.  Sure, KoRn (yes, it hurts me to not be able to reverse that 'R' in Wordpress) is a band that at one point was considered the biggest band in the world while boasting an impressive four heads of dreadlocked hair which was reduced to three after the departure of newborn Christian guitarist Munky.  But their popularity and influence quickly faded once the apparent KoRn faithful realized that they (both the dreads and the band and the entire nu-metal scene) stink.  Similarly but not really, Counting Crows, led by Adam Duritz, a guy who would look like someone's creepy uncle who lives in a van behind Safeway without the dreads (instead he looks like a dude that sells airbrushed art on Venice Beach), enjoyed only limited success and a reputation not only as a one hit wonder but the epitome of one hit wonders.  What was initially a refreshing look for Mr. Jones and me (and the rest of the music listening public) eventually became visual pollution so bad that even Starbucks refuses to stock Counting Crows albums any longer, for fear of making their customers lose their appetites.  Zach de la Rocha has had a fine and successful career, but I'm sure that his bandmates went running to Cornell when they couldn't take the foul stench of his head anymore.  And okay, Bob Marley is a legend, and he sports the dreaded dreads.  But even look at him.  It's not like he's working anymore.

Moral of the story is that you should invest in haircare products if you plan on being an artist of any significance.  No, I don't have any affiliation with a major haircare product company.

- Brother Amur