Posted on 07/31/2014 10:52:24 PM PDT by beaversmom
On this day in 1981, MTV: Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever, with the words (spoken by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack): “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to air on the new cable television channel, which initially was available only to households in parts of New Jersey. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels.
In MTV’s early days, its programming consisted of basic music videos that were introduced by VJs (video jockeys) and provided for free by record companies. As the record industry recognized MTV’s value as a promotional vehicle, money was invested in making creative, cutting-edge videos. Some directors, including Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Three Kings) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), worked on music videos before segueing into feature films. In the 1980s, MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation.
By the late 1980s, MTV started airing non-video programming, geared toward teenagers and young adults. Its popular reality series The Real World launched in 1992 and was followed by such highly rated shows as The Osbournes, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, Laguna Beach, My Super Sweet 16 and The Hills. MTV also debuted animated series including Beavis and Butthead and Celebrity Deathmatch, as well as documentaries, news, game shows and public service campaigns on topics ranging from voting rights to safe sex. MTV developed a reputation for pushing cultural boundaries and taste; the airing of Madonna’s 1989 “Like a Prayer” video is just one famous example. In 1984, the channel launched the MTV Music Video Awards, which were followed in 1992 by the MTV Movie Awards. Today, MTV’s music-video programming is largely confined to one show, Total Request Live.
Ha ha ha!
Snagged it!
Slade - Run Runaway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikMiQZF-mAY
My mom once belted me in the mouth while we riding in the car and this came on the radio.
I was singing along and she did not hear it as “funky”.
WAP!
Yay! There’s more than one way to skin a cat. :)
That made me think of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-dKbd3XBHM
[another secret, guilty ‘pop’ pleasure that I should not confess here]
;]
Hey, I’m listening to that song right now! :-)
Wow, those are some obscure ones. I remember the first two, but have never heard that third one.
Love that song.
Like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley through my soul....
And that car!
[I always assumed he was delivering it to Suzanne Somers]
;D
Heh!
You don't wanna get my started on American Graffiti! That would take up a whole 'nother thread. Yes, good lyrics in that Springsteen song, too.
I’m game.
Start.
:)
Another melancholy one I love...great lyrics. I’m happy to hear this one on the radio fairly often, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO9Qa7MpAvw
Love how she sings this:
So remember when we were driving driving in your car
Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ‘round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
lol...It’s just one of my favourite movies. So funny! I love Toad. I would be his girlfriend. :) Love the McKenzie Phillips character.
There was an American Graffiti thread not too long back. I’ll find it.
I watched it one night with my little girl...probably late last year. She’s 8. She was acting like she was totally put off by this “old” movie. She ended up watching the whole thing with me. :)
Good tune. One I always liked. Steve Strange in that vid, I think. Is shibumi also known as Sting. :)
OMG..if nothing else, watch it for the street rods.
Here’s the AG thread if interested:
American Graffiti 40 Years Later
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3077970/posts
Going from T Rex to Tracy Chapman was pretty weird.
Did you know...she had Dobermans.
I just love it. I can’t explain it. I feel like I lived that night with them. McKenzie Phillips is SO cute in it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.