Generations, Music, TV

MTV turns 40!

On August 1, 2021, MTV turns forty years old. Yes, MTV is middle-aged. Many of you are probably thinking how can MTV be 40 years old since 1995 was only fifteen years ago :). Well, 1995 was 26 years ago and we are just going to have to accept the fact that MTV is really 40 years old.

MTV debuted in 1981 when cable was only in twenty-five percent of American homes. The staff of MTV had to go to a bar in Fort Lee, New Jersey to see the channel make its debut because it was not on the cable system in New York City. Seven months later on March 1, 1982, the “I Want My MTV” ad campaign started, and soon after, it was the hottest channel on the cable lineup.

The channel introduced America to artists and music it might not have ever heard of had it not been for the network. In the early days of Music Television, they kicked off the second British invasion featuring acts like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Human Leauge, and so many more. In fact, by 1983, thirty percent of record sales in America were from British acts. This was due in a large part to MTV.

New wave and power pop also ruled the playlist in the early years and were followed by glam rock and dance music. A few years later, metal would rule on late-night Saturdays with Headbanger’s Ball. Alternative rock, which was known as college rock back in the eighties, had its own show on Sunday nights with 120 minutes and Yo MTV Raps brought rap to the mainstream. After MTV aired Live Aid in 1985, the power of MTV could not be ignored. It was not a fad and was here to stay. Our news was The Week in Rock.

We had our own game show with Remote Control. The New Year’s Eve specials were to us what Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve was to the teens of the seventies. Come spring break, we all watched people party down in Daytona Beach. The MTV Awards was by far the best awards show on the tube. The Real World was not the first reality show, but it is the show that kicked off the reality show craze.

In the early nineties, it was our time to make the music. Grunge came along and turned the rock world upside down. Gangsta rap took the genre to a new level and hip hop exploded on the scene and never left.

In the late nineties, a multitude of young female pop stars, boy bands, and nu-metal took over. It was clear then that another generation had come of age. After that was all over with, the network found its new love: Reality Shows. We then found a new home with VH1. Sadly they have lost their way as well with an overload of reality shows. If you are lucky, your cable provider or streaming service has MTV classics. 

What MTV is now is not worth talking about. It’s not ours and will never again be ours. The real Music Television belongs to us. It was our voice to the world.  A world where the boomers were still hanging on to relevancy and always trying to take our thunder away.

Thankfully the home VCR came along in the eighties and plenty of folks recorded MTV. Now we can view footage from the old days on YouTube. We can watch us in our heyday like no other generation before could. Other generations have their networks but nothing will ever compare to our MTV.

Music

The Producers

It’s been New Wave November on our blog and social media sites this month and since today is the last day of the month, we want to go out on a high note. We will do just that by introducing you, or re-introducing some of you to a great New Wave/Power Pop band out of Atlanta, GA called The Producers.

The band released two albums on Portrait Records in the early eighties. The debut album was self-titled and was released in 1981. The follow-up, You Make the Heat came out in 82. She Sheila from that album went to #48 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Although the band never hit the top 40, they did have success on an upstart cable channel that also premiered in 1981. Music videos for She Sheila, What’s He Got and a few other songs got airtime on MTV in the very early days of that station. They also appeared on MTV’s New Year’s Rockin Eve in 1982.

The band was dropped from Portrait Records after the second album. They released a third album on an indie label but was back to the major leagues with MCA for their fourth album, Coelacanth. Before that album was released, the band was let go from MCA as part of a label purge in 1989.

The Producers “retired” in 1991, but they still get back together for shows every once in a while. If they come to your town, check them out for sure. They were a band that created great music and every New Wave and Power Pop fan should know who they are and know their music. Take a few minutes and watch the videos below and we think you will agree with us!

Music

Joan Crawford by Blue Oyster Cult.

Flashback Friday Music Video.

For the month of October, all of our Flashback Friday Music Videos will be horror-themed. Today’s video is Joan Crawford by Blue Oyster Cult.

The song appeared on the band’s 1981 gold album, Fire of Unknown Origin. That album also featured Burning For You, the band’s last top 40 hit. Joan Crawford went to #49 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. The video was banned by MTV because of a “suggestive” scene.

Music

Think I’m In Love

Flashback Friday Music Video.

For the month of October, all of our Flashback Friday Music Videos will be horror-themed. In honor of Eddie Money who recently passed away, our first horror music video will be Think I’m in Love.

The song appeared on Money’s platinum 1982 album, No Control. It went to #16 on the singles chart and was Money’s first Top 40 hit since 1979. It also went to #1 on Billboard’s Top Rocks Tracks.

The music video was a favorite on MTV during its very early years and featured Money as a Count Dracula type character.

Music

Ric Ocasek

Our pick for the Flashback Friday music video today is a tribute to Ric Ocasek, vocalist, guitarist, and co-founder of The Cars, who passed away this week. The video is Emotion in Motion.

The song is from Ocasek’s second solo album, This Side of Paradise which was released in 1986. Emotion in Motion was his only solo top forty hit and it peaked at #15. It also hit #1 on the Top Rock Tracks charts and #8 on the Hot Adult Contemporary charts.

The music that Ocasek and The Cars created in the late seventies helped set the stage for the New Wave scene which was so prominent in the early eighties and during the first few years of MTV. With his distinctive look and lead vocals, along with the classic songs and music videos from his band, he truly was an icon of the Gen X era.

Uncategorized

Video Killed the Radio Star

Flashback Friday Music Video.

MTV debuted at 12:01 am on Aug 1, 1981. To celebrate the channel’s 38th birthday, every Flashback Friday music video in August will be a song that appeared on the first day of MTV. Today’s video is the first video ever played on MTV, Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles.

The song was recorded in 1979 for their debut album, The Age of Plastic. The single went to #1 in sixteen countries. The song only went to #40 in the United States.

The Buggles were a two-man group featuring keyboardist Geoffrey Downes and bassist and lead vocalist, Trevor Horn. After the release of The Age of Plastic, both members joined the legendary progressive rock band Yes. They performed on the album Drama. and performed on the promotional tour for the record as well. The group disbanded in 1981, and Downes joined fellow Yes member Steve Howe, John Wetton of King Crimson, and Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer to form the supergroup, Asia. Horn went on to produce such acts as ABC, Frankie Goes to Holywood and Seal. He was also a member of the group The Art of Noise.

Stream or purchase The Age of Plastic by The Buggles via Amazon by clicking on the image below.

Music, TV

Thank You For Being A Friend.

Flashback Friday Music Video.

MTV debuted at 12:01 am on Aug 1, 1981. To celebrate the channel’s 38th birthday, every Flashback Friday music video in August will be a song that appeared on the first day of MTV. Today’s video is Thank You For Being A Friend by Andrew Gold.

Thank You For Being A Friend was the first of four music videos from Andrew Gold that aired on that first day on MTV. The other three videos were Go Back Home Again, Never Let Her Slip Away, and his biggest American chart hit, Lonely Boy, which hit the top 10 in 1977.

In 1978 Thank You For Being A Friend hit #25 on the Billboard singles chart and #11 on Cash Box. Seven years later in 1985, the tune was used as the theme song for The Golden Girls. It was re-recorded for the show and featured vocals by Cynthia Fee. That version has become one of the best-known TV theme songs of all time.

Stream or purchase Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best of Andrew Gold via Amazon by clicking on the image below.

Music, TV

I’M GONNA FOLLOW YOU

Flashback Friday Music Video.

MTV debuted at 12:01 am on Aug 1, 1981. To celebrate the channel’s 38th birthday, every Flashback Friday music video in August will be a song that appeared on the first day of MTV. Today’s video is I’m Gonna Follow You by Pat Benatar.

The second video ever played on MTV was You Better Run, which was the lead single off of Benatar’s 4 x platinum album, Crimes of Passion. Later in the day, I’m Gonna Follow You, another song from the same album made it’s MTV debut. What’s interesting is that the album’s highest-charting song, Hit Me with Your Best Shot, never had a music video released for it, but one was made for I’m Gonna Follow You, which was not a single.

Click on the image below to stream or buy Crimes of Passion by Pat Benatar via Amazon.

Music, TV

More Than I Can Say

Flashback Friday Music Video.

MTV debuted at 12:01 am on Aug 1, 1981. To celebrate the channel’s 38th birthday, every Flashback Friday music video in August will be a song that appeared on the first day of MTV. Today’s video is More Than I Can Say by Leo Sayer.

The song spent five weeks at #2 on the singles chart in December of 1980 and January of 1981. It also went to #2 on the British singles charts. The song hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The song was written by Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison. Both were members of The Crickets. Allison played drums in the band before and after Buddy Holly’s death. Curtis performed with Holly before the Crickets formed and then joined the band as lead singer after Holly died in 1959.

Stream or purchase The Very Best of Leo Sayer via Amazon by clicking on the link below.

Music

Never Say Never

Flashback Friday Music Video

Our video today is Never Say Never by the San Francisco new wave band Romeo Void. The song first appeared on the band’s EP which was also called Never Say Never and was released as a single in 1982.

Although the song did not hit the top 40, it did become a popular video during the early years of MTV. The song’s success led to the band being signed by Columbia. Their major-label debut, Benefactor also featured Never Say Never but it was a shorter and “cleaner” version.

The band had a top forty hit in 1984 with A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing), however, many would argue that Never Say Never is actually the band’s best-known song. Also in 1984, Never Say Never was part of the soundtrack of the movie Reckless starring Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah.

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