Re: When did MTV die?

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 03:49:21 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling,rec.sport.football.college,rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1970s,alt.tv.mtv
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Fuck it. I like this topic and want to keep the discussion going.
I think that music video's main appeal when the idea sprouted was that it
provided an additional level of subtext to the music. In fact, some
science-fiction takes this a step further, anticipating the integration of
entertainments into "environments" in which the "viewer/listener" becomes
part of a scenario. The closest thing we came to it psychologically was in
the early 1980s. We dressed like they did in music videos (why did Madonna
cause such a ruckus back in '84?) we made ourselves up like in music videos
and decorated our rooms like video sets or in such ways that we could
imagine them as such. The merchandise to be had surrounding these videos was
huge; take a look at the end of Culture Club's video for "It's A Miracle" to
have an inkling of what you could buy: hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters,
12" singles, picture discs (vinyl albums with photos covering the entire
surface, grooves and all); pins, novelty radios/Walkmans with band
detailing; pins, patches, tour jackets, postcards, stationery, books, car
air fresheners...and that's just the items that would have either the band's
photo or logo on them. You could also buy the clothing the band members wore
right down to the three dozen bangle bracelets to the "CHOOSE LIFE" neon
tops sported by Wham!. Can't afford the labels? No problem! Pick up a couple
of the knockoffs at the local department store and you'd still have it made.
Back then we were like kids in the proverbial candy and toy store with a
couple of bucks in our hand. We couldn't have it all but we knew we could
have a piece of it all. And this was before record companies started talking
total crap out in the open about profit margins and cost-effectiveness.
I'm sorry I strayed somewhat from my original brief but my point is this;
when the music is good (to me, that = good beat that's easy to dance to in a
100-120 bpm sort of way) and the video is less ad and more art, then it can
all come together. In the 80s it was all about the music; everything we did,
wore, played with, watched and bought (asked for Christmas, Easter, bar
mitzvah, back-to-school, grading) was influenced by the music of the period.
Since that time, they separated into separate elements that had little to do
with one another except when Fred Durst shows up at a fashion show.
Music videos of the 1980s; true harmony in diversity. Discuss.
Kelly, the Eternity Since She's Issued This Sort of Discussion Call 8)