Monday, January 30, 2012

Music Monday-Video Killed the Radio Star

A lot of memories are made involving music. Music Monday is a time to share a song and the memory you associate with it. This week I'm jumping into the 80's. The 80's were such a transitional decade in technology. Suddenly people had more than a handful of television channels to chose from.

In 1981 MTV launched and the first video that aired was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. This video and music captures the 80's not only in sound, but in style as well. Music videos also turned marketing in the music industry on its ear. Suddenly bands not only had to have good music, but a "look" as well.

At any rate, as a kid I loved going over to friends' houses that had MTV and cable. I grew up on a farm in New Jersey a mile off the main road. We couldn't get cable. They still can't. I was still stuck with the handful of channels to chose from. In hindsight that was probably not such a bad thing, but at the time I felt like I was missing out.

I first heard this song on the radio and when I finally saw the video I was mesmerized. I couldn't wait to see it again. It certainly is not a great music video, it was just different for the time. Since then music videos have evolved and are the stepping stone in many directors careers. I don't think The Buggles ever released another hit song, however they will forever be remembered... at least by me. Anytime I hear this song I immediately think back to 1981 and the first time I saw this video.

No comments:

Post a Comment