Duran Duran--Hungry Like The Wolf (1982)

     If I were born ten years later, there might be a quaintness to the synthesizers of the 1980's. As it turns out, growing up during the early days of the Moog taught me a few things (like enjoying the bass sound in a recording) and it seemed as if the entire technology took a step back. Which is why a lot of early 80's stuff leaves me cold except for those artists who understood musical textures and could make the best of lousy keyboards.
     Which brings me to Duran Duran. One could, I suppose discuss the merits of their music, but listening to an hour of them (which happened in prep for the radio show) brings a numbness to my brain cells. Their sound was good enough, and was danceable, but what gave them staying power for so long were the videos.
     Like everyone else in my generation, the idea of seeing an artists rendition of a song was fascinating, even if the artist usually had very little to do with it. I can remember for hours sitting and just watching this (yes kids, MTV used to actually just show videos.....). Looking back now with a tad more jaundice view, it was obvious that without MTV Duran Duran would have gone the way of many a early 80's UK group. However, the guys could make love to the camera and the videos were interesting in a 1982 sort of way.
     In an age now where substance gets overshadowed by flash (there is still a lot of good stuff out there...but you have to work a bit harder for it), one has to look back and wonder if MTV was a good thing at all. Of course, the programming that you find on it now make this video clip look like Masterpiece Theatre.

 

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Sunday Morning Vault: The Buggles--Video Killed The Radio Star (1979)

     There are a lot of misconceptions about this song. As you can see from the title of the blog, it was released in 1979, although it really didn't enter the consciousness of the American public until the creation of MTV. It actually did very well on the charts around the world, hitting #1 in 16 different countries, including the UK. It barely scraped the top 40 here, but the "New Wave" as it was being called then had not fully taken hold yet in the states.
      It's biggest claim to fame was that it opened the launch of MTV on August 1, 1981. Just like other historical events, many have claimed to have seen it (and thanks to You Tube...you actually CAN see the first hour of it's broadcast). However, at the time, very few were able to watch it because so few had cable, and even fewer had MTV as a part of their package. The night of it's premiere, the VJ's and executives had to have a party over in New Jersey, because no cable company in New York City actually carried the network.
      The ironic thing is that for all of the trivia, it's a brilliant song, as is the album that accompanied it, "The Age of Plastic". The concept album was based on a couple of books and a silent film (1925's, "The Plastic Age"), and delved into nostalgia and uneasiness about technology and our future in it. "Video Killed The Radio Star" had to do with radio stars of the 40's being supplanted by television, however, given the nature of the rest of the album, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downs had to also be looking into the future as well.
     Horn and Downs went on to stellar careers. Trevor recorded as an artist with Yes, and The Art of Noise. He received a Grammy for producing the single, "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal, and has a stake in a record and music publishing company. Downs was a member of Yes for a short time and Asia during their best years. He has continued to play keyboards for a number of groups over the years.

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