Rick Astley has somehow mangaged to escape the prolific and successful (as of late) Grim Reaper, and he is not yet dead. So, I guess that means he is never gonna give us up, and we will be together forever. I'm pretty sure these are two different songs:
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
June 30, 2009
Rick Astley lives!!!
Rick Astley has somehow mangaged to escape the prolific and successful (as of late) Grim Reaper, and he is not yet dead. So, I guess that means he is never gonna give us up, and we will be together forever. I'm pretty sure these are two different songs:
September 30, 2008
"Only the Young"
I was never a big fan of Journey back in their heyday (the 80's). For some reason I hated groups like Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Kansas, etc. No doubt whatever music mags I was reading at the time brainwashed me into believing there was something wrong with those types of groups, usually labeled as being "corporate rock." As if there was something wrong with those groups earning a living. Today, obviously, pop music is clearly just about making money, and making it quickly before the audience grows tired of it. But, back to Journey...
The soundtrack to Vision Quest (1985) was released the February of my senior year in high school. Anyone my age who is reading this should be able to recall how frequently (relentless pounding) MTV played Madonna's Vision Quest videos ("Crazy for You" and "Gambler"). But the really great song from that soundtrack was Journey's "Only the Young." I clearly remember thinking it was an anthem for my generation, which it was/is. And with graduation three months away, we were indeed "free to fly away." Ah, good times.....sorry to wax nostalgic, but the world's gone nuts, and the past stays just as it was. In fact, it gets better with age!And in 2008 with Arnel Pineda, the
Not Steve Perry, but an incredible facsimile!
September 12, 2008
Robert Plant's solo stuff
Vintage 1988-era MTV
August 7, 2008
Our strange zeitgeist
Me watching the Teen Choice Awards the other night:
March 13, 2008
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
From the Wikipedia entry:Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure. Released in 1987, this album put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40. It was a worldwide success.
It was originally a double album, and was also released on a single CD. The album was made for CD, as Robert Smith wanted to take advantage of the CD's storage capabilities, which was almost double that of a two sided record. As such, this is the first Cure album to go over an hour (approx. 74 minutes), as opposed to the normal 30-45 minutes. In fact, one track, "Hey You!!!", had to be removed from the original album, due to time restrictions on the CD format.
It feels like only yesterday I was buying this on cassette tape, but the promotional videos (released in 1987 and 1988) would indicate otherwise. There were three singles released from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me:
March 1, 2008
Tattoo You
From the Wikipedia entry:Tattoo You is an album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1981. The follow-up to Emotional Rescue, it proved to be a big critical and commercial success upon its release and is still celebrated as one of The Rolling Stones' finest full-length releases, despite its prolonged recording history.
Tattoo You is primarily composed of outtakes, some dating back a decade, with new vocals and overdubs. Along with two new songs, the Rolling Stones put together this collection in order to have a new album to promote for their worldwide American Tour 1981/European Tour 1982 beginning that September.
From 1964 to I'd say 1997's Bridges to Babylon album, every generation of teenagers had their incarnation of The Rolling Stones - their own personal Rolling Stones. Mine was Tattoo You-era Stones. That album cover was everywhere my freshmen year in high school. I can remember sitting in the nurse's office at school, flipping through Life magazine's article about the 1981 North American tour. 
Reading about how Tattoo You was made up primarily of recordings done during previous albums, it's pretty clear these guys were resting on their laurels, coasting, etc., throwing together what in hindsite is a classic album, all for the purpose of having something to promote on their upcoming world tour. Being now roughly the same age these guys were in the Tattoo You videos is an interesting thing to experience. For one thing, they don't seem as old now! 
"Start Me Up" was recorded in 1975 during the Black and Blue sessions. So essentially, a knock-off tune from a mediocre, mid-70s Stones album ended up being one of their most successful releases, ever. I'm so grateful I still think about high school days and not Microsoft when I hear this now. The little thing Mick does at the beginning of the song's video is hilarious:"Hang Fire", "Little T&A," "Black Limousine," and "No Use In Crying" all came from the Emotional Rescue sessions in 1979. The "Hang Fire" video:
"Little T & A" (Live in Seattle, 1981)
The Goat's Head Soup outtake "Waiting on a Friend" was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, at Dynamic Sound in 1972. It was scrapped (not having lyrics) in favor of other material. MTV played this video a lot in the early '80s:
My blogging mate across the Atlantic, Blognor Regis, is always good for taking the trivial components of any pop culture icon/subject to its most infinite (and not so infinite) extreme. His trivia oneupmanship often leaves me breathless and in a cold sweat. Well, not really, but I'm always impressed/astounded at the pop history crumb he has noticed that I've failed to sweep up. In the case of the "Waiting on a Friend" video, he reminds me that the tenement block where Mick and Keef "meet" is the same one as on the cover of Physical Graffiti. I am humbled and honored, sir! Thank you for filling in the holes, again.
February 8, 2008
"To Live and Die in L.A."
Wikipedia entry:"To Live and Die in L.A." is a single from the soundtrack of the same name by Wang Chung. Released in September 1985, the song rose quickly up the Billboard Hot 100, until it hit its climax at #41.
On the To Live and Die in L.A. DVD audio commentary, director William Friedkin stated to Wang Chung that he “didn’t want a theme song for To Live and Die in L.A.” One day, though, Jack Hues & Nick Feldman gave Friedkin a copy of "To Live and Die in L.A." (to his dismay). Surprisingly, Friedkin was impressed and decided to keep the song as part of the movie and the soundtrack.
December 18, 2007
"A View to a Kill"
From the A View to a Kill Wikipedia entry:The theme song "A View to a Kill", was written by John Barry and Duran Duran, and performed by the band. It has three different versions of which the two made by Duran Duran make no reference to the James Bond theme. "A View To A Kill" was second in the British charts and first in the American charts, thus becoming the peak song in the James Bond series.
I'll always associate this song with the euphoric final months of my senior year in high school, so, good times. It was constantly played on the radio, and the video was in heavy rotation on something we called "Music Television," MTV for short. Because Duran Duran had an international, cosmopolitan image at the time (no doubt due to the exotic locations used in their music videos), the pairing (James Bond/Duran Duran) made perfect sense. "A View to a Kill" was the first thing the group worked on after splintering into the groups Arcadia and the Power Station in 1985. Apparently the Power Station sound was what they felt was best for their Bond theme, because Bernard Edwards produced it. It seems that the "reunification" wasn't entirely smooth, according to the Duran Duran Wikipedia entry:
Duran Duran were never the same after this break. According to Rhodes, the two side projects "were commercial suicide... But we’ve always been good at that." The band was still off balance when they regrouped to contribute "A View to a Kill" to the 1985 James Bond movie of the same name. This single remains the only Bond theme to go to Number 1 on the U.S. charts, and the highest-placed Bond theme on the UK chart where it reached Number 2. It was the last single the band recorded as the original five-piece for twenty years.
Duran Duran performed in front of 90,000 people at Live Aid (in Philadelphia) on July 13, 1985, while "A View to a Kill" was #1 on the American charts. The original five did not play live together again until July 2003. The Live Aid performance is where Simon Le Bon's voice cracked (an unintentional falsetto note) during the final chorus of "A View to a Kill," which he later described as the most humiliating moment of his career. I think he made much too big of a deal out of it. True, it's pretty bad, but at least he was actually singing live, unlike so many "performers" today:
October 5, 2007
Britney spears a hit
So, Britney Spears' new song is #3 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100. The song also held the No. 1 position on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, having sold 179,000 downloads in its first week of release. Since 2004, it's her biggest hit yet. That makes me feel good for her. I don't understand why people hate Britney so much. The reaction to her is irrational. Like it, or not, she's a pop icon of the crazy, screwed-up times in which we find ourselves. And not that anyone cares what I think, but I thought her performance on the MTV Video Music Awards was cool. I nearly did a post about it on the next day about the overwhelming criticism of it, but, again, no one should give a flip what I say. The little Elvis tribute at the start of the routine was nice, and largely unmentioned.
May 12, 2007
"Union of the Snake"
"Union of the Snake" was the ninth single released by British New Wave band Duran Duran and the first single from their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It was released on October 17, 1983 and would peak at #3 on the UK and US singles charts. What the heck was all this about??? And don't get me started on "The Reflex."
Telegram force and ready
I knew this was a big mistake.
Theres a fine line drawing my senses together,
And I think its about to break.
If I listen close I can hear them singers, oh oh oh...
Voices in your body coming through on the radio,ho,ho...
The union of the snake is on the climb..
Moving up, its gonna race, its gonna break through the, borderline
Nightshades on a warning
Give me strength at least give me a light.
Give me anything even sympathy
Theres a chance you could be right.
August 1, 2006
The newest component of your stereo system
MTV's original veejays pose in 2001, from left: Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson, Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman and Nina Blackwood. J.J. Jackson died back in March 2004.Did you know you could watch the very first hour of MTV programming (even the commercials) over at MTV Overdrive? I didn't even know about MTV Overdrive until I heard it mentioned this morning during a segment on NPR about the channel's twenty-fifth anniversary.
Here are the videos played during that first hour:
"Video Killed the Radio Star" The Buggles
"You Better Run" Pat Benatar
"She Won't Dance With Me" Rod Stewart
"You Better You Bet" The Who
"Little Susies On The Up" PhD
"We Don't Talk Anymore" Cliff Richard
"Brass in Pocket" The Pretenders
"Time Heals" Todd Rundgren
"Take It on the Run" REO Speedwagon
"Rockin' the Paradise" Styx
"When Things Go Wrong" Robin Lane & The Chartbusters
"History Never Repeats" Split Enz
Other NPR programming devoted to the anniversary:
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll: MTV at 25
My previous post:
MTV at 25
May 22, 2006
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