Nostalgia

[sen_no_ongaku]

I miss music videos.

Most were dull and uninspired -- glorified concert video, uninspired shots of the band from funky angles in some exotic location, banal love stories, or an excuse to show a lot of hot chicks (which is OK). But if you liked the song, you watched the video anyway. And then, on occasion, they served as great little backdrops for storytelling (Mike and the Mechanics -- "All I Need Is A Miracle", A-ha -- "Take On Me"), as strangely compelling experimental films (Peter Gabriel -- "Sledgehammer", New Order -- "True Faith"), or as a short four-minute oddity featuring Chevy Chase pretending to be Paul Simon. Despite all the dreck -- or maybe because of it -- it became a real pleasure to suddenly encounter something original and creative, or just plain weird.

I used to leave MTV on in the background while I did my homework. For I while, I went through a phase where I would pop a tape in the VCR and record my favorite videos. I taped Al-TV, and reveled when the man created and ate such concoctions as a hot dog and vanilla ice cream sandwich.

I miss VJs -- of whom I can only remember Martha Quinn (who I thought was cute) and "Downtown" Julie Brown (who I thought was unfortunate). I miss that MTV would start counting down the premiere of a big video days in advance. I miss Kurt Loder on MTV News, as serious -- though perhaps not as self-important -- as a 'real' anchorman. I remember, embarrasingly, Remote Control, hosted by Ken Ober and Colin Quinn, and which, sadly, gave Adam Sandler his start.

I have a few of these collections, and like them a lot. But somehow part of the enjoyment I got out of the videos that I loved was the fact that they were inflicted on me -- as if for one moment, someone knew exactly what it was that I wanted to experience, and sent it my way.

Comments

[magdalene1.livejournal.com]

Many music videos were cheesy & uninsired, true, but it was an art form that people were making up as they went along, and there was a painfully earnest and hilarious sincerity to some of the music videos that really sticks with me. The Cars, You Might Think. Anything with David Lee Roth...

[2h2o.livejournal.com]

The first video I ever watched was Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," during an ill-advised "vacation" to my grandparents' place in Tewksbury. For a long while after that we didn't have cable, but in high school my brothers and I used to tape 120 Minutes every week. I still watch a fair number of videos, usually on Fuse, sometimes on MTV2, and some of them are worthwhile, but you're right that it's not the same. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's that the medium is mature enough that it's difficult to do anything new, or maybe what's popular right now just isn't my taste, but you're right that they aren't as exciting as I remember.

[cmprince.livejournal.com]

I preferred Tabitha Soren, but I seem to be in the minority there.

[elklad.livejournal.com]

The seminal video for me was Herbie Hancock's "Rockit". Although no video today is likely to match its effect on me, I've managed to find some that please me greatly.

Besides the collections you already have, music.yahoo.com and www.sputnik7.com have been good sources for me. Sputnik7 reminds me a bit of "120 Minutes"--nearly everything is worth watching if only because it's weird--but its selection is relatively small and static. Yahoo! has a lot of conventional drek, but sometimes I'll stumble across a great video for a song that's gotten some radio airplay (Radiohead's "There, There" comes to mind).

A couple of months ago the MFA also showed a collection of videos from an Edinburgh film festival. Some were familiar thanks to the Director's Series DVDs, but there were a number that I'd never seen that were absolutely amazing. I'll dig up and post the list of videos later; some can be found online.

As for Tabitha Soren, let's say I envy Michael Lewis for more than his writing ability.