Musical Holocron

This rolled past my feed today. This is a list of the first 50 videos that played on MTV when it was debuted. I was already aware that "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles was the first video, but was not sure what else might have come next.

Found via Facebook.

It's got me thinking. How long before MTV was a thing had musicians and labels been making music videos for their songs? I mean, where did the idea come from that in addition to audio output, they would also produce a video to accompany the song. According to my quick search, music videos are as old as the 1960s at least. The earliest music video may be Tony Bennett's "Stranger in Paradise" from 1956. Stuff like that was produced for American Bandstand and other TV shows. So I guess the practice was gaining traction for a while.

But really, the question I'm asking is who knew there would be a need to fill 24 hours of time with music videos before MTV announced they would be starting it? I guess you can't make an MTV unless these videos already existed and you could use them. I look over the list of the first 50 and see four Rod Stewart songs, four REO Speedwagon songs, and two each by Pat Benetar, Iron Maiden, Lee Ritenour, Pretenders, Styx and The Who. Some of these songs were ridiculously popular chart toppers and hold up well today. Some of them I've never heard of. Who told these artists to make sure they produced music videos to go with their songs? To me it felt like an art form --the creation of music videos-- that didn't have an outlet anywhere prior to MTV landing.

The answer to my question seems to be that there had been a lot of music videos produced prior to the 1980s. Some of them were made as "promo videos" for the songs. And although there wasn't a station that was showing them 24/7, there were plenty of outlets on various programs around the world. The videos were sometimes clear advertisements designed to promote the songs, with perhaps no "art" value on their own. Read more about the history of music videos here.

I slapped together a Spotify playlist of all of the songs from this list I could find (44/50). It might make more sense to create a YouTube playlist at some point, so that it includes the actual videos, but I'll save that as an exercise for later (or someone else). Check it out here or below.

Labels: history, MTV, music, music/artists/iron-maiden, music/artists/lee-ritenour, music/artists/pat-benatar, music/artists/pretenders, music/artists/reo-speedwagon, music/artists/rod-stewart, music/artists/the-who, video

# posted by ArcoJedi : 19:49  0 comments

I've avoided watching American Idol for the last complete season. I'll admit that I had an uneasy like/dislike relationship with the show the first several seasons, but that I watched it when my wife watched it. Her interest in the show has dwindled down to non-existent from my perspective. There were dramatic parts of the show that I would get interested in when it was on, but as far as I'm concerned it's good riddance to bad rubbish.

I could write a long treatise on what I don't like about the show and the negative effects that have hampered the music industry. But I'll keep my elitism in check for right now. After all, as I mentioned there were redeemable moments that I can't ignore. There have been certain moments in the show that have been interesting and memorable that made for good television at the least. And some of the artists that graduated to stardom from the ranks of the contestants are worthy to stand alongside other more traditionally accomplished musicians.

But damn. The nerve of some of these... *sigh* ...kids can really annoy me at times. For a moment, let's focus on one named Jordin Sparks, winner of season six. I've appreciated at least one song of hers called Tattoo simply because the chorus captures an emotion I associated with the tattoo I got for myself when my son died. At it's heart, this song is a lost romantic love song. However, the theme is that someone who is gone will remain as a permanent mark on their heart. I can dig that just a bit.

Sparks' latest hit that is being overplayed on the FM dial is catchy, but altogether sounds way too familiar. And I don't mean to say that the lyrics or music were plagiarized. No, the problem is nothing so droll. It's the fact that the idea for the song's theme was already out there in a much more classic version. This story has already been told. This question has already been answered. The sad and annoying fact is that young Jordin may be too young to even know it. Confused? Perhaps the video evidence...

Jordin Sparks - Battlefield

The underlying question that young, naive Jordin is (repeatedly) asking here is WHY does love always feel like a battlefield? Hmph! What a dumb question. Do you really want to know why, Jordin? Would you like a source of wisdom to enlighten you? Well, there's no need for me to tell you what should be obvious. This question has already been answered by one of your elders and betters. And it was stated so elegantly back before you were born (probably). Once again, let's roll the video...

Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield

Did you catch that Jordin? Love feels like a battlefield, because IT IS a battlefield! So there you go. You might make a memorable songwriter some day Jordin. But the next time you get yourself up to asking silly questions, please be sure to consult the entire music catalog of Pat Benatar for the answer before you put any more silliness into song form. It might save you and us a lot of grief. Thanks! ::Jim

P.S. Actually, perhaps you shouldn't stop at just Pat Benatar. Other songstress classics from the 80s you should check out include Blondie, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Kim Carnes, Dolly Parton, Sheena Easton, Pointer Sisters, Abba ... (Who am I forgetting?). Anyway, I sincerely hope this helps. So much for keeping my elitism in check, huh?

Labels: ♫, funny, genre/pop, history, love, music, music/artists/jordin-sparks, music/artists/pat-benatar, music/lyrics, via:youtube.com, video

# posted by ArcoJedi : 23:59  0 comments