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Ciao amici! .*☆ Happy you are here! ˗ˏˋ★ˎˊ
[ If you want, I reccommend continuing reading while listening to today's topic's music playlist ! ｡𖦹° ⇢ 📺🎵🎧🛹 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGSKrC7dGcY&list=PLqadBppYGzhnQOJZEFGRkAIOPiweX9xnt&index=10 ]
[Gif above from the movie Empire Records, 1995]
Today's all about MTV as a diffuser of musical, visual and fashion tendecies! ⩇⩇:⩇⩇✮
How could such a huge inspirational phenomenon like this end? Where did <that> coolness go? Now where are we looking for those things MTV used to offer us?
♫⋆｡♪ «Video killed the radio star!»₊˚♬ ﾟ
This might be one of the most iconic line ever sang in a song, which of course, was a hit for the music but also for its visual appearance as music video and for its meaning. And this was the new turning point. Music wasn't just made to please ears, but from now on even eyes are looking for something visually catchy and inspiring. That's why this song give me goosebumps despite its playful spirit.
Many things were already changing when this song came out in 1979.
But before this date, young people were already into TV broadcasts about music such as Discoring in Italy (on channel Rai 1), Top of the Pops in England and then it spread in Europe; spaces where musicians and bands performed advertising their music and keeping their image alive. Considering that the World Wide Web was only born in 1991, the radio and the TV had crucial roles for the artists.
[David Bowie on Top of the Pop, 1972]
When I found out about Soul Train (which went on TV from 1971) I freaked out for the VIBE each person served! It was a TV show where only rythmn, soul and moves spoke to who watched! It was a space where people could check new cool moves trends somehow! Their incredible energy was contagious, I can just imagine dancing in front of the TV when this went ON 😻
And they ALL looked so genuinely and happily "feeling" the music together, in sync, becoming one thing, one vibe.
I think even the dance culture changed sooo deeply today. And I'm not speaking in professional terms. Til the 80s-90s DANCING WAS AN ACTUAL THING FOR EVERYONE, even for our parents or grandparents (my grandma was a teen in the 50s so just imagine how they used to boogie or swing)! It was a must on weekends going to real dance clubs and not only necessarily for flirting (even though I imagine for some of them it was all for it, but HEY they moved in such freedom, they expressed themselves in the coolest ways!). Their fashion style was something unique too. In my experience, today everyone -apart from almost looking all the same- everyone looks more embarassed to dance or expressing themselves through vibes 'n moves like they used to. Today I've seen more people actually vibing to a DJ in the streets casually - rather than inside what they call dance clubs with monotonous music... Tell me your experience, is it this way were you live? In which way today are we still able to feel one whole vibe like they used to? If we still do... What changed and how in your opinion?
These TV music shows had been an alert for what would've come later.
Back to "Video killed the Radio star" from 1979. MTV opened in 1981 with this exact song. What a better way to announce that the sound itself wasn't enough? Style, image, strategy appearance was everything. Just think about Madonna, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Nirvana. Some of them used real high budget short movies, most of them were the authentic image of the idol; others used videoclip or live TV shows for protesting against society and consumism: in the 90s the grunge era was what the punk movement was for the 70s. But it wasn't just rage and rebellion this time, grunge was more a melancholic rage towards the disturbing fake perfectionism. Those bands came from a cold war society and we know that in the 90s they really loved to colorfully fantasize about the so called positive promised future. Illusions.
This is where I wanted to get. The bands era on TV. A culture almost left behind in the industry today. But even melancholic bands like Nirvana held a playful free band spirit. They made music and videoclips, THEY HAD FUN. Most of the 90s young band culture was a rebellion to how to sound, how to behave, how to dress, or they simply were a commercial strategy to attract teenagers. Either ways the band culture was cool and with a vibrant spirit (of course many figures struggled a lot with their mental health, it was not all about fun unfortunately). They were not perfect, in the end they narrated the ache and the fun in life, and we know THOSE songs left a unique nostalgia taste in us.
But in my opinion things started changing after 2010 (more or less), and pop music was becoming the main representation among the youth. Until today where the most successful artists are single artists making millions and not simple bands like at the time... There were still single artists like Britney, Beyonce, (Aaliyah dear forever young star...) but they owned hip hop and pop music like none... Plus the phenomenon and the undergound culture MTV shared was HUGE. It was the era were cool bands were the OST to most teenage movies and the whole atmosphere was just perfect: Loser (2000), Empire Records (1995), 10 things I hate about you (1999), Clueless (1995) aaand more.
Where did the band life go?
Of course there are many today but those years... they seem like something apart from any other era ⭐
Aah to be back home after school, turning your TV on, watching your favourite band or show on MTV. Apart from music, shows like Daria, Beavis and Butthead, Nana and other cool shows were aired! It was a total mood.
What I criticize about MTV was the fact that at the start it was something mostly for a white audience and artists. Michael Jackson was the only successful exception in the 80s. Luckily it opened way more to artists like Prince, Hip Hop and R&B's gems. Music, ideas, art should bring people together as one and not dividing.
What happened toady? Most people say it's because of the massive number of reality shows that MTV declined since early 2000 if not before. The changing of technological means and so of the mass entertainment products, led to a complete lifestyle change. It saddens me that once the action of watching something on TV was a special, not guaranteed moment that you had to seek for yourself at a specific hour of the day. Shows did not wait for you, so teenagers had to shape their time, and the relationship with the TV, as a media, was totally different rather than today, which is almost unexisting. MTV probably already died many years ago, and our attention moved to new medias. Yes, again all of this saddens me a bit.
Do you think social medias made everything even too much easier? Are we satisfied with the way trends and music are spread today? Let me know <3
[Next blog issue could be about how fame could lead from the top of the success to destruction </3 Marylin, Britney, Aaliyah, Amy, Kurt, Kpop groups, the movie Perfect Blue and more stuff to analyze together...]
Useful cool documentaries link to expand the context : 📺⚡
- The 90s Alternative Music Revolution (it's not just grunge)
- I Want My MTV - The Death of a Generation┃Documentary
- Documentary || Hype! || Seattle Sound & Grunge Documentary || 1996
- The Very Black History Of Punk Music| AJ+
Love yall, stay safe and good vibes ✰⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆✰ ꨄ︎
- Ghost of nostalgia
⢀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣦⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⣰⣿⡟⢻⣿⡟⢻⣧ ♡
⠀⠀⠀ ⣰⣿⣿⣇⣸⣿⣇⣸⣿
⠀⠀ ⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⢻⣿⣿⣿
♡ ⣠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣤⣼⣿⣿⠇
⢿⡿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠀
⠈⠿⠿⠋⠙⢿⣿⡿⠁⠀
Comments
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UniversalGhost
I think it's a shame that as of today people lost that sense of connectivity. In the early 2000s - late 2010's there were things that were unanimous like TV shows everyone kinda watched (Sitcoms, Dramas, etc.), or music everyone kinda listened to.
But today everything (at least in America) has become so isolated and solitary that people don't have a common "thing" to connect with each other about. And that sucks! When I was younger I was promised my early 20s would be full of fun, somewhat shitty jobs, but at least some idea of a community. But since social media has left the niche "alter-ego" to become the "new-ego" it really bogs everything down. We're constantly being watched, recorded, and being exposed to such horrific vitriol. No wonder everyone wants the world to end! Everything feels hopeless in our manufactured isolation!
I wish I was able to experience MTV in it's peak before it became what it is today (or well lack-thereof since it's dead as hell.) I know im looking at the early 2000s with red-tinted glasses, but can you blame me? (Of course I acknowledge the rampant sexism, racism, and overall shitty rhetoric being put on pedistools)
Of course, realistically the only way to keep going is to keep looking forward and trying to make those connections regardless of the surveillance state we live in atm. (I just miss cool artsy and fun music videos :( )
Good point! I feel that loss of connectivity too in today's society... and I'm afraid that with time even communities that still have great unique traditions that unites, will be consumed by this global "acting minimalist, efficient and perfect", in terms of human relationships and maybe even artistically/culturally speaking. Can we do something about it? Maybe yes, maybe it's just how times evolve things and places, and probably people were scared somehow like us for the future 200 years ago, just different times but with the same problem at heart that human kind is the only one to push himself to self destruction lol. I lose it too sometimes, I end up imagining "what if I fully lived the 90s? Would I be happier? Probably back in the days they had still bad human connections from other aspects of life. On the other side today's technology improved connection so much intensively that made human interactions worse or even extinguished some aspects and now we're scared of it... But it happens for me to find positive changes by "trying to be the one who might cause them" in the first place. Point is what you said in the end, we must stick to our present because that's what directly belongs to us, so that means appreciating more small daily things and interactions, and so attracting people that share the same wave of energy breaking that manufactured isolation you mentioned. What made the 90s special was authenticity, genuine fun. Things are different today :c but if we can do one thing, at least we can keep spreading those by trying to create our own better place (and keep sharing a bit of good old mtv culture and more 🛹🦖!)
¯\_(❀❛ ֊ ❛„)_/¯
by Ghost_of_Nostalgia_99; ; Report
LeaxxLae
"Do you think social medias made everything even too much easier?"
Yes it did, and it destroyed everything, i think the real pleasure that came from watching tv was, as you say said it, that the show wouldn't wait for you. If you weren't there it was difficult to get rewatch it later.
Now you have access to everything all the time. No time for a tv-show? That's ok just watch it later on one of the hundreds of app where you can! and in the end you don't even watch it because you got interested in the next thing.
But what I think also destroyed the pleasure of watching a movie, is the choice.
You didn't have as much of a choice back then, or you had to pick a movie at the store, but it wasn't the same as having the choice between hundreds of thousands of movies in an app.
Thousands of movies are filmed every years and at some point they are just too similar, how many cliché exist in certain type of movies because they all look the same? The blonde girl die in a horror movie, the city girl always end up with the country boy in christmas movies.
It's just too similar, it gets boring after a while
You're right! The choice, when it came to watch something, was limited compared to today... but at least people were less overwhelmed by technology itself and its contents. And proportionally there was less "garbage" than today on TV or other platforms. An example: in Italy decades ago they used to air Bergman of Fellini's movies. Huge cinema authors and you had no choice but watching masterpieces (there might be some exceptions, but that's how it generally went). Today's industry are mostly dumb or clichés TV shows... I don't know if it's because the audience changed its commitment to entertainment or because the movie and TV industry wanted to catch more audience at the lowest cost possible. That would explain why we're struggling in finding true original cinematographic gems today. Some great pieces are still sorrounded by that innumerable mass of insignificant products that have an easier life in today's consumism. I'll talk more about movies in the future, to keep you all positive despite all these changes through time. Thank you for your opinion.
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ ❀˖°
by Ghost_of_Nostalgia_99; ; Report
*Bergman's or Fellini's movies
by Ghost_of_Nostalgia_99; ; Report