What was it about 1981??

[cassa]

1981 - it all came together. Mood, mode and melody with a touch of manic!!!
WHY? Please explain...anybody.
2001- it's all about marketing shit to the masses.
What happened?[}:)]

Faithless In Faith We Must Behold The Things We See.....

[hutter]

Here is my shot at an explanation.

I understand that music videos were a big part of the new wave explosion, and like most of you I have fond memories of them, but here's where I cut through the shit, put aside my own prejudice's (for the most part) and attempt (strong emphasis on ATTEMPT) to speak some gospel:

HUTTER'S WINDBAG TAKE ON WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED 'TWEEN 1981 AND TODAY

With the visual impact of MTV and music videos in general, folks stopped wanting to be musicians and opted to be pop stars. Instead of plying their trade for years in backwater venues (a way of weeding out the poseurs) a lot of the folks following the initial blow-up of "overnight" video stars created marketable images, but not good music. How else do you explain the Thompson Twins popularity? Or Winger?!?

Not long after that the record executives saw quicker ways to make stars, had a perfect place to place them (MTV) and now had the kind of scrupleless foot soldiers all too willing to sell whatever musical integrity they still had (hey, they had bills to pay, too) for a quick 3:49 minutes of fame and a $1.23 (why prepare a delicious meal from scratch when you can microvave a passable one in 1/16th of the time?).

Now little Johnny didn't want to grow up to be a rock'n'roller, but a MTV video star. So what if he can't play a guitar. There's always rap! It eventually happened to rock, punk (already morphed into new wave, and kind of sad when you consider that punk and new wave were responding to the corporate rock crapola of the 70's. WTF happened?), rap (early promise turned sour quick), grunge (yeah, big loss there) and country (no more Buck Owens on the charts? Say it ain't so! Fuck you, Cowboy Troy).

That's my theory on why 99% of today's "pop"ie; corporate sludge music blows. Hell, Viacom pretty much owns every music tv channel, we have no choice but to take what they give us. Watch Britney for the 1,000,000th time on TRL! The Buggles were prophetic with their little ditty. Damn them for being right!

I know I'm leaving out a lot of the variables & exceptions (one of the positive side effects of all this mess between 1981 and today was some great music being made), but am I off base here?

[lemmi1968]

well spoken

http://www.eightiesfanatic.da.cx/

[RiverHockey]

Hey, I like the Thompson Twins.

[Panorama]

[quote][i]Originally posted by hutter[/i]
but am I off base here?[/quote]
Use more paragraphs between different thoughts -- and spaces between letters and after commas. It makes for a more pleasant reading experience.

Why write all that, if people just look at it and say, "what a mess."

---------------------------
"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[TragicMagic]

(I assume it got tidied since that last post).

Anyway.. I enjoyed the read. Don't forget of coruse now you can be a pop-star by winning any number of reality TV competitions around the world.. I guess we have to thank MTV for some of that as well [:(!]


TM

[hutter]

Yep, Tragic, I took Panorama's advice and tidied it up, and translated it from esperanto to hutterspeak.

[Panorama]

Good job Hutter.

---------------------------
"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[hutter]

Hey, I'm always open for constructive criticism. It makes me a better man, in this world that we live in.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

I think it was the combination of Maggie Thatcher and Ronnie Reagan.

"Now little Johnny didn't want to grow up to be a rock'n'roller, but a MTV video star. So what if he can't play a guitar. There's always rap!"

I about fell on the floor with that one, Hutter.

[TragicMagic]

I am convinced rap is just a way for untalented people to vent the only skill they ever managed to learn / get up to in school: Nursery Rhymes.

Its all about the look and the 'tude.. you don't actually seem to have to have any musical talent.

A lot (not all) rap is a complete waste of space IMHO.

TM

"You can't see tits on the radio"

[hutter]

Y'know, I just realized that I never answered the first part of cassa's question. Could someone else explain why the music all came together in 1981? I was just a li'l runt then, and my fingers are tired.

And why is this thread in "Obscure 80's/MFV, CD-R's & MP3 Trading"? Wouldn't it be better served to be in "General New Wave & 80's Discussion" instead? The guys that roam up there have a shit-load of good answers. I would love to get their take on cassa's questions.