Author Topic: MTV in the 80s Song of the Day (Read 308288 times)

King Postwhore · « **Reply #630 on:** June 09, 2012, 09:41:56 AM »

Quote from: KevShmev on June 09, 2012, 08:51:48 AM

The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

While technically from 1979, this is heavily associated with the 80s, it being the first video ever played on MTV and all. I didn't care for it back then, but I like it now. Very catchy, and was almost prophetic, given how many careers or were derailed in the 80s because of their lack of airplay on MTV or video appeal.

Love the tune but seriously, Trevor Horn looks so uncomfortable in front of a camera. Camera, camera. (Sorry, I had to.

)

Jaq · « **Reply #631 on:** June 09, 2012, 09:46:34 AM »

Quote from: KevShmev on June 09, 2012, 08:51:48 AM

The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

While technically from 1979, this is heavily associated with the 80s, it being the first video ever played on MTV and all. I didn't care for it back then, but I like it now. Very catchy, and was almost prophetic, given how many careers or were derailed in the 80s because of their lack of airplay on MTV or video appeal.

You want to hear a story about being old, relatively speaking?

I didn't see this video first on MTV. I saw it on HBO.

Way way back in the day, when HBO was new and, in fact, didn't initially start airing movies until after 5 PM-they actually weren't on the air at all that early during the week- they had a between movie filler thing called Video Jukebox. It played early videos, and the two I distinctly recall were M's Pop Music and Video Killed The Radio Star. I'm sure there were more, but those two stuck in my head. In fact, when MTV was playing the Buggles, my thought then usually was "oh yeah, the guys from Video Jukebox."

Christ I'm getting OLD.

For an interesting, to say the least, version of the song, go look up the Asia DVD called Fantasia. They did songs from other bands that the members had been in (John Wetton singing Roundabout while playing that bass line is a thing of beauty) and Geoff Downes' representation was Video Killed The Radio Star, with Wetton singing the first verse through a megaphone. Great fun.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #632 on:** June 09, 2012, 10:11:02 AM »

I've seen this song performed live many times by 80s cover bands, and it is always given more energy than the original recording has. When I hear the original now it sounds weak and lifeless. Good song, though.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #633 on:** June 09, 2012, 11:42:11 AM »

Damn Jaq, I remember HBO showing, Heat Of The Moment also.

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #634 on:** June 09, 2012, 01:40:28 PM »

It's a good enough song I guess, and has the added bonus of being the first video ever played on MTV. I just think there were better songs/videos at that time. JMO.

Jaq · « **Reply #635 on:** June 09, 2012, 05:31:49 PM »

Quote from: chefkingshmegland on June 09, 2012, 11:42:11 AM

Damn Jaq, I remember HBO showing, Heat Of The Moment also.

Video Jukebox was around fairly long, actually-I just remembered reading this post that it was around long enough for HBO to be the first place I saw the video for Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms. Weird the things that stick in your head sometimes.

Orbert · « **Reply #636 on:** June 09, 2012, 08:27:26 PM »

Whoa, I remember Video Jukebox! And when HBO only came on at night. Of course, there was only one HBO and one Cinemax, but we had them both for a while.

Remember how risqué it was for those R-rated movies to be shown uncut on cable TV? Before every one of them, you didn't just get a card with the R rating, but an actual voiceover telling you that the following movie contains adult language and/or nudity and/or graphic violence, and it concluded with "HBO will only show this movie at night." Pioneering days of cable TV, baby.

bundy · « **Reply #637 on:** June 10, 2012, 04:28:05 AM »

Love this song. Like Take on Me which we discussed a few days ago, the song has been remembered, while a terrific album (in this case The Age of Plastic) has been criminally overlooked. One of my top fifty fevourite albums without a doubt and the album that introced Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn to the world.

KevShmev · « **Reply #638 on:** June 11, 2012, 07:56:09 AM »

Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes

A fun little song, with a video that I enjoyed a lot at the ripe old age of 8.

I remember the lady reporter (the one he dances with near the end of the song) being literally my first celebrity crush, if you can call some no-name in a video a celebrity. When she lets her hair down and her clothes look a little disheveled...that is good stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o41A91X5pns

Orbert · « **Reply #639 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:45:38 AM »

I remember that reporter, too. She was hot.

As for the song itself, yeah a fun song. The trumpet adds a lot; it's different, and even gets to take a solo.

I read that the song itself was Adam's impression of all the interviews when he first became known. Everyone just wanted to know if he took drugs, drank, partied... and he doesn't really do any of that, so they'd finally ask "What do you do?" The end of the video, when he shows the reporter one thing that he actually does, meant something after that, rather than the standard sleazy nailing the hot babe from the video. Which it still is, but at least it had some context.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #640 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:48:35 AM »

Great song, especially live if done well. A song anyone should be able to dance to, even if you hate to dance. Don't recall the video, will have to check out at home.

Orbert · « **Reply #641 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:57:32 AM »

Wow, I don't think I ever caught the reference to "Jailhouse Rock" before. Nice!

bosk1 · « **Reply #642 on:** June 11, 2012, 09:33:12 AM »

Quote from: Jaq on June 09, 2012, 09:46:34 AM

Quote from: KevShmev on June 09, 2012, 08:51:48 AM
The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star

While technically from 1979, this is heavily associated with the 80s, it being the first video ever played on MTV and all. I didn't care for it back then, but I like it now. Very catchy, and was almost prophetic, given how many careers or were derailed in the 80s because of their lack of airplay on MTV or video appeal.

You want to hear a story about being old, relatively speaking?

I didn't see this video first on MTV. I saw it on HBO.

Way way back in the day, when HBO was new and, in fact, didn't initially start airing movies until after 5 PM-they actually weren't on the air at all that early during the week- they had a between movie filler thing called Video Jukebox. It played early videos, and the two I distinctly recall were M's Pop Music and Video Killed The Radio Star. I'm sure there were more, but those two stuck in my head. In fact, when MTV was playing the Buggles, my thought then usually was "oh yeah, the guys from Video Jukebox."

Christ I'm getting OLD.

For an interesting, to say the least, version of the song, go look up the Asia DVD called Fantasia. They did songs from other bands that the members had been in (John Wetton singing Roundabout while playing that bass line is a thing of beauty) and Geoff Downes' representation was Video Killed The Radio Star, with Wetton singing the first verse through a megaphone. Great fun.

Quote from: Orbert on June 09, 2012, 08:27:26 PM

Whoa, I remember Video Jukebox! And when HBO only came on at night. Of course, there was only one HBO and one Cinemax, but we had them both for a while.

Remember how risqué it was for those R-rated movies to be shown uncut on cable TV? Before every one of them, you didn't just get a card with the R rating, but an actual voiceover telling you that the following movie contains adult language and/or nudity and/or graphic violence, and it concluded with "HBO will only show this movie at night." Pioneering days of cable TV, baby.

I remember all of that. Obert, this is for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NuyV6tTEk

Jaq · « **Reply #643 on:** June 11, 2012, 09:40:28 AM »

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #644 on:** June 11, 2012, 09:48:09 AM »

To the given song though - I didn't dig it at first, but it definitely grew on me fast. Good song, cool vid.

Orbert · « **Reply #645 on:** June 11, 2012, 11:41:01 AM »

Quote from: bosk1 on June 11, 2012, 09:33:12 AM

Obert

Quote from: bosk1 on June 11, 2012, 09:33:12 AM

this is for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NuyV6tTEk

That's the one!

bosk1 · « **Reply #646 on:** June 11, 2012, 11:49:21 AM »

Typo. Deal with it.

Quote from: Orbert on June 11, 2012, 11:41:01 AM

That's the one!

I know. When I played it, I could practically recite it verbatim along with the narrator.

KevShmev · « **Reply #647 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:26:56 AM »

The Rolling Stones - Undercover of the Night

This song gets trashed by a lot of Stones purists, but it was song by them I heard, and I liked it a lot, and the video was like a little story, albeit a somewhat violent one, so I don't have hate for it at all. But I get why existing fans might have hated it (a dance beat, NOOOOOOO!).

lonestar · « **Reply #648 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:46:24 AM »

Quote from: bosk1 on June 11, 2012, 09:33:12 AM

Obert, this is for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NuyV6tTEk

Brushing the memories away like cobwebs...

Orbert · « **Reply #649 on:** June 13, 2012, 09:27:21 AM »

Quote from: KevShmev on June 13, 2012, 08:26:56 AM

The Rolling Stones - Undercover of the Night

This song gets trashed by a lot of Stones purists, but it was song by them I heard, and I liked it a lot, and the video was like a little story, albeit a somewhat violent one, so I don't have hate for it at all. But I get why existing fans might have hated it (a dance beat, NOOOOOOO!).

I like this song a lot. I don't like everything by the Stones, and seem to have a different taste in their work than many, but this is a catchy song, and yeah, the video is cool.

KevShmev · « **Reply #650 on:** June 13, 2012, 11:32:29 AM »

Interestingly, I couldn't find the regular video on youtube. Even more interestingly, the wiki page for the songs says, "The music video, directed by Julien Temple, was considered to be too violent for MTV," which is not accurate, as MTV played the crap out of it back then.

Orbert · « **Reply #651 on:** June 13, 2012, 11:45:03 AM »

True. I'm pretty sure MTv is the only place I've ever seen it.

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #652 on:** June 13, 2012, 12:02:17 PM »

There's better RS songs, but Undercover of the Night isn't too shabby.

Jaq · « **Reply #653 on:** June 13, 2012, 05:49:17 PM »

Until I youtubed the song, I'd totally forgotten Undercover of the Night. Then I heard the first few seconds and got nostalgia bombed. Wiki is totally wrong, MTV played the fuck out of this video.

KevShmev · « **Reply #654 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:25:34 PM »

Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me with Science

I loved this song when it first came out, but was never so disappointed as I was when I bought the single 45 of it, as it had the longer version, which is annoying since it had a bunch of unnecessary added parts, unlike the single version, which was shorter, more concise and just perfect. To this day, I still prefer the single version. And the video was fairly entertaining, too!

Jaq · « **Reply #655 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:29:37 PM »

SCIENCE!

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #656 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:30:04 PM »

Shorter version > longer version, but I do like parts of both.

Actually, it's about time you got to this song - it's one of my top 10 favorite 80s songs/videos.

bosk1 · « **Reply #657 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:37:55 PM »

If we're talking Thomas Dolby, this video MUST enter the discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGzWqAc16l0&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL1FBD985D98757E83

Cool Chris · « **Reply #658 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:41:47 PM »

Was the original theme song for Bill Nye the Science Guy. It's cool for that reason, but otherwise this is a ridiculously dumb song.

The first time I ever saw Thomas Dolby was in the Roger Waters performance of The Wall in Berlin (in 1990?). At the time I didn't know he did that song. I'd never heard of him.

bosk1 · « **Reply #659 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:51:07 PM »

YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

...and watch the video I just posted.

Jaq · « **Reply #660 on:** June 15, 2012, 01:08:20 PM »

One of the bits of musical trivia about the 80s that always puts a smile on my face is that Thomas Dolby played keyboards on a couple of songs on Foreigner's 4 and under an assumed name on Def Leppard's Pyromania. Little facts like that always interest me.

Great song, btw. Totally in my top five of 80s songs (defined as "songs that only would have worked in the 1980s")

Orbert · « **Reply #661 on:** June 15, 2012, 02:12:14 PM »

Yep, that's "Tom Dolby" playing keys on Foreigner's "I've Been Waiting" and others. But you want some Dolby trivia? After he became somewhat less popular after the 80's, he started writing ringtones for Nokia. I read somewhere that 90% of the ringtones out there (the ones that aren't actual songs) were written and performed by Thomas Dolby.

Anyway, I happen to love the longer version of "She Blinded Me with Science". The Simmons jam at the end goes on a bit too long, but I like everything else. Same with the longer version of "One of Our Submarines is Missing". More is better when it comes to Dolby.

Oh yeah, one last trivia bit. He's not related to the famous Professor Dolby, inventor of the Dolby noise-reduction process. When he first started out, someone started a rumor that he's the son of Professor Dolby. He's not, as Dolby isn't even his real name (Thomas Morgan Robertson is his real name), but Professor Dolby does have a son named Thomas, so that may be where the confusion comes in.

bundy · « **Reply #662 on:** June 16, 2012, 05:12:09 AM »

Sorry to be a spoilsport but I never liked this song. It annoyed when it was first released and I still find it annoying.

That's just me though, I can see how many people would find it enjoyable -just not my kind of music.

KevShmev · « **Reply #663 on:** June 16, 2012, 01:39:28 PM »

Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me

At the age of 10, I remember being just amazed that all of the music in this song was played on a synthesizer.

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #664 on:** June 16, 2012, 01:46:33 PM »

I remember liking that one a lot too, but not as much as She Blinded Me With Science.

News: DreamTheaterForums is a place for people who just don't have the time for music anymore.

Author Topic: MTV in the 80s Song of the Day (Read 308288 times)