Music Videos

Music videos was a big thing in the 80's and even part of the 90's. With cable tv channels like Mtv, CMC and VH1 and the late night weekend show Night Tracks that was on a regular channel, we were able to see music in a creative way. Mtv was the first channel to do this. It gave a different way for our favorite artist to be creative and to tell their story.  It had my generation glued to that freakin' tv hoping to catch our favorites. Even if I didn't like a song, I still enjoyed watching a video - sometimes. It gave us another way to dance in our living rooms (hoping no one would catch us) and to discover new music having us rush out to the nearest record store to pick up the hottest song. It was also a way to give artist more publicity which I'm sure help create more sales. Those videos also would create lots of conversations at schools asking "did you see so and so's video?" Shows like Mtv also helped launch new artist like Madonna.

The videos did so much for us, for our culture and for artist everywhere. Michael Jackson was one of the artist that blew up the video scene when he came out with his videos like 'Billie Jean', 'Beat it', and the very popular 'Thriller'.  He set the bar high with 'Thriller' and blew people's minds and was the first mini film video. Even if you don't like Michael Jackson, you have to admit that it is an awesome video especially for that time period. The video industry pushed artist to come up with that awesome video.

Another person who I thought was creative with their videos was Cyndi Lauper. Her videos were always weird, corky and yet fun and entertaining. Madonna did sexy videos with 'Like a virgin' and 'Material Girl', having girls everywhere wanting to dress like her. Rock videos had rockers head banging and trying to do air guitar right along with the videos.

Music videos then came with their own award shows and always gave the press even more to talk about when it came to "pop-stars", both good and bad. Madonna was talked about A LOT with the videos she came out with. There was also some talk about Prince's video 'When doves cry', Michael Jackson doing his crotch grabbing, Cyndi Lauper when she had the big orange hair and 'We are the world' which created good talk. 

I miss those days. The videos back then were very creative and entertaining. The songs were better. It was something to relax to and enjoy. The feelings one would get when they saw a video from their favorite artist is indescribable. It was almost like a high. We could forget about our troubles just by vegging out in front of the tv with our music.  

Today, it just isn't the same. Mtv isn't a music television anymore. Well maybe during the wee hours of the night/morning but that's it. VH1 is the same. Artist stopped putting a lot of creativity into their videos. It could be about money, because they don't get seen as much or maybe both. It's really sad. Yes we may have youtube but it's not the same. Sure I get very excited when my favorite artist  puts out a video and I enjoy it very very much but there will always be something missing (not at all the artist fault)  and that's seeing the videos on tv. It just has a different vibe. Most videos don't get a lot of notice, don't get talked about in the media much (unless it's a bad review) and it doesn't do a whole lot for the artist because they don't get noticed much(is my take on it). A lot of money goes into videos but hardly any money gets made from them. 

There needs to be an actual music channel to bring back the old videos and new ones. We will always go to youtube for videos but to just turn on the tv and kick back with different videos playing is better. Plus not every video is on youtube. Some even get taken down because of copyrights. If they are on tv, there is none of that happening. There still are some very creative, simple and entertaining videos with stories like 'Roar', "E.T.', 'Born this way', 'Have a nice day', 'Black out the sun' just to name a few. It just seems like there is less and less. I know this is a new era but there still needs to be a good ol' music channel. The 80's were awesome for so many different reasons. I love music videos. They are awesome and could be watched all day long. I want my Mtv. :)