1980s, music videos, and general ramblings

As I was getting ready for the day yesterday I tuned into Bob Biolen's "All Songs Considered," which turned out to be one of the more humorous episodes to date. It was entitled, "The 1980's: Were they really that bad?" I was tempted to say, "Yes, of course. Why even discuss this issue?"

But as the guests reminded me there were the certain 80s rockers that broke away from the glitter scratch-n-sniff sticker that came out of every vending machine record label--such as The Cures's "Friday I'm in Love," Journey's "Anyway You Want It," or "Don't Stop Believin'," The Starship's "We Built this City," Simple Mind's "Don't You Forget About Me," among others.

But even these classic titles forever held in our minds as a solid representation of "good" music from the 1980's have been reduced to headphones since the introduction of iPods; where guilty pleasures are taken to a new height. Excluding, of course, Journey--which can only be brought out once the BAC level reaches an extrodinary high, knowing full and well that you will not remember it the next day.

So, what was it about the 1980s that made the music suck? Was it the synthesizers? Was it the keytar? Was it the cloud of hair spray that followed everyone? Was it George Micheal's white t-shirt with big, black, bold "Choose LIFE" in his video for "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"?

More to the point...what did the 1980s leave us with? The 1950s up until the mid to late 1970s are strife with emotion, change, demand, and most importantly a voice. The 1980s are fueled by drugs, sex, and hair spray; leaving the end result emotionless and tacky.

But, the 1980s did give us something to look back on and appreciate: music videos. In some cases the music videos were more popular than the song itself, causing the listeners to be more aware and excited for the video than the actual song.

A good example is a-ha's "Take On Me," which is a really great video and if you're 16 years old, cruzing around in your newly bought freakishly old beat up used car, it's a good listen too. More popular was Devo's "Whip It"--which gained such a noteriety as a music video that cheap shops started making the emphamis red hats, and college kids across the nation can still be seen pulling out the hats and re-inacting the music video.



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This post was supposed to transition into the modern day music video, but I rambled more than I anticipated and got distracted by other music forces outside the blogging world. So, look out for it later on!