REMEMBERING MTV, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND MORE.... PART 4

PART 4 OF 4

AM VS FM.....

Even when I was a kid, I HATED AM! It was a MUSICAL WASTELAND! Most of the stations seemed to play the same hundred songs, over and over, and over again.

The stations that played MOLDY OLDIES were even worse!

One day I discovered FM. Those sations were like an oasis. You could hear entire albums, and almost any type of music you could imagine.

Some stations had very little commercial interruptions, and some had NONE at all.



I remember listening to music from TANGERINE DREAM, Klaus Schulze, and other electronic music pioneers.

I also remember REAL talk radio. The hosts and guests actually DISCUSSED things, they did NOT rant and attack each other!



One of my favorite experiences, was listening to the radio version of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY ( complete with special effects )... very cool! In my opinion, Douglas Adams ( 1952 – 2001 ) was a GENIUS.



MY FAVORITE STATIONS.....

I don't remember the call letters of most of my favorite stations.

However, I do remember KROQ vividly ( they played new wave / punk music ). I listened to them until they started to change.



RADIO PERSONALITIES.....

I think most folks in the United States know who Wolfman Jack is. I hated the music he played, but I liked listening to his voice and it was cool watching him in movies, like AMERICAN GRAFFITI.



The Real Don Steele worked at TENQ. I liked him, but I hated the music TENQ played. I LOVED their animated tv commercials.



Don Steele had his own tv show on channel nine. The same channel that Larry Vincent and Cassandra Peterson hosted their horror programs.



He also acted in movies.

I HATED the radio station Rick Dees worked at, and I disliked him also!... Remember his song DISCO DUCK?

Dr. Demento's show was the only reason I listend to KMET.

I found Kevin and Bean from KROQ mildly amusing.

There was a big scandal involving a FAKE murder confession on their show. It was a truly despicable incident. In my opinion, Kevin and Bean should have been sent to prison.

FYI: Cassandra Peterson also worked on KROQ for a while


A paparazzi shot of LADY CACA on a Indiana beach... the smell of success?



I was also going to write about nightclubs, and concerts, but I can't remember much... Or maybe I don't want to remember ( ha-ha-ha ).

I will say this, I miss dancing with cute, curvy, and leggy, valley girls... Well, till next time.....

REMEMBERING MTV, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND MORE.... PART 3

Screengrabs from DEF LEPPARD's PHOTOGRAPH music video

PART 3 OF 4



MUSIC STORES.....

How many music stores have disappeared?

Anybody out there remember a chain called LICORICE PIZZA?... or SAM GOODY?... or MUSICLAND?... or TOWER RECORDS?... or THE WHEREHOUSE?... or CRAZY EDDIE?.... and on, and on, and on.

Some of these businesses only exist as online stores.



FORMATS.....

VINYL RECORDS - I HATED the size, the skipping, and the warped discs.

They also took up too much storage space, and the spines seemed to be the first part of the album that would wear-out.


8-TRACK TAPES - What a pile of fucking shit! I HATED everything about them! What a fucking rip-off!


AUDIO CASSETTES - I actually liked these, when they worked properly.

Some cassettes contained fold-out cover art / liner notes.

Plus, they took up very little storage space.

Unfortunately, they shared many of the same negative qualities of VHS tapes.



CDs - Let me start by saying, I love watching music videos made from 1980 through 1995, and I'd rather purchase a collection of music videos than a CD.

As with DVDs, I purchased CDs long before I could afford to buy a player.

I really liked those shiny little discs. However, after a while, I stopped purchasing them. They were too fucking expensive for what you got in return. Hell, I could buy two or three DVDs for the same amount of money - even more now.


MINI DISCS - They seemed like a great idea. So what the hell ever happened to those things? Did any of the music labels ever offer pre-recorded mini-discs?


Screengrabs from DEVO's FREEDOM OF CHOICE music video

IDIOTS!.....
The MUSIC INDUSTRY in the United States, has a history of SHOOTING ITSELF IN THE FOOT, again, and again, and again...

"A day late, and a dollar short".... Well, with the music industry, it's "a decade late, and a hundred-million dollars short". They have a history of NOT giving their customers what they want, and when they want it.

Plus, they always blame something else for low sales. When I was a kid, they blamed blank audio tapes!

During the MTV craze, they utilized music videos the proper way - as a promotional tool to sell music. Now, they make it as difficult as possible for you to watch them. They keep forcing websites such as YOUTUBE, to delete them, or block them in certain countries... fucking idiots!

REMEMBERING MTV, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND MORE.... PART 2

Clockwise... screengrabs form SPARKS, LOVE & ROCKETS, SPIT ENZ, and BUGGLES music videos

PART 2 OF 4

Cinematic happiness pills... That's how I describe most of the music videos that were made from 1980 to 1995.

These videos were like short experimental films.

They were truly an ART FORM back then.

Even when songs had dark lyrics, they were performed with so much enthusiasm and subversive joy, that you couldn't stop smiling while you watched them.

I always looked forward to new music videos by THE B52s, DEVO, SPARKS, and MANY MANY others.


FYI: The B-52's have put more smiles on my face than any other musical act.....


Julie Brown ( the REAL one ) performing THE HOMECOMING QUEEN'S GOT A GUN



VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE's music video of I SAY NOTHING is one of my all time favorites... It never fails to put a smile on my face.

Partial lyrics to I SAY NOTHING.....

"I'll say nothing.
I'll talk to no-one

there is a place somewhere
some times you'll find me there
and If I am alone
I will be sitting on the stairs
I'll be as good as new
one of the lucky few
who's laughing at the joke and
as I leave I laugh for you

but I say nothing
I talk to no-one
I know what I believe
don't need to wear it on my sleeve
I talk to no-one
I will say nothing
if we come and go alone
then what's the point of carrying these arcades?

I'll say nothing.
I'll talk to no-one
I will say nothing.
I'll talk to no-one... but you"


J. GEILS BAND performing CENTERFOLD

REMEMBERING MTV, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND MORE.... PART 1

PART 1 OF 4

Once upon a time, the M in MTV stood for music, NOT mierda ( that means "shit" to you folks in the northeast ).

Tons of music videos filled the screen... all day and all night.

MTV also had news about the artists, and interviews.

It changed for the worse, so I stopped watching... and I NEVER went back.



Most of the videos that were shown, were extremely entertaining. They were also creative and clever.



Some of my favorite music acts from the eighties and nineties are listed below.....
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS - ABC - AC / DC - ADAM AND THE ANTS ( plus Adam Ant solo ) - ANIMOTION - ART OF NOISE - B52's - BANANARAMA - THE BANGLES - BILLY IDOL - BLONDIE - BOW WOW WOW - THE CLASH - THE CURE - DEF LEPPARD - DEPECHE MODE - DEVO - ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - ERASURE - GENE LOVES JEZEBEL - THE GO GOs ( plus Jane Wiedlin solo & Belinda Carlisle solo ) - HUMAN LEAGUE - ICE HOUSE - ICICLE WORKS - INXS - J. GEILS BAND - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS - JOSIE COTTON - KATE BUSH - LEVEL 42 - LOREENA MCKENNITT - LOVE & ROCKETS - MIDNIGHT OIL - MIGHTY LEMON DROPS - NEW ORDER - OMD - PAT BENATAR - PET SHOP BOSYS - PSYCHEDELIC FURS - THE ROMANTICS - ROXY MUSIC ( plus Bryan Ferry solo ) - SCANDAL - SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - SPARKS - SPLIT ENZ - THE SMITHS ( plus Morrissey solo ) - STRAY CATS - SUZANNE VEGA - TALKING HEADS - THOMPSON TWINS - TIL TUESDAY - U2 - VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE - WALL OF VOODOO ( plus Stan Ridgway solo ) - YAZ - ZZ TOP - and many others.....


THE BOOMTOWN RATS performing I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS ( right ), and a newspaper clipping of the story that inspired the song ( left ).

Partial lyrics to I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS.....

"Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays?
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays?
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays?
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oot
the whole day down, down, down... shoot it all down

and all the playing's stopped in the playground now
she wants to play with the toys a while
and school's out early and soon we'll be learning
and the lesson today is how to die
and then the bullhorn crackles
and the captain tackles
with the problems of the hows and whys
and he can see no reasons
cause there are no reasons
what reason do you need to die, die?
oooh, oooh, oooh

tell me why
I don’t like Mondays?".....


THE CLASH performing THIS IS RADIO CLASH


Josie Cotton performing HE COULD BE THE ONE.... Sing it baby!... Sing it!

COLOMBIAN MOVIE ADS

Swedish film called MORIANNA



DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN ( aka DJANGO 2 ), with the one and only Franco Nero



FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII



NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART III



SILK... By Cirio H. Santiago ( 1936 – 2008 )


BONUS AD.....



Obviously, this is NOT a movie ad... Anyway, does that cartoon fellow look familiar?.... He should, because he's the SOMETHING WEIRD mascot. The little dude appears on their DVD-R covers!.... This ad dates from 1972, and is for an office supply store ( just in case you can't figure it out.... ha-ha-ha ).

CANADIAN MOVIE ADS

LICKERISH QUARTET by Radley Metzger... I haven't seen this movie since the VHS era



Raquel Welch was a great looking woman, and this movie was fun, but I still liked UNHOLY ROLLERS much more







I miss watching double and triple features


BONUS AD.....

These are NOT movie ads, but I still thought they were interesting enough to include.



I thought this was really funny... they placed a DISNEY ad aimed at families, right next to a STRIP CLUB ad... "Hey mom!... I DON'T want to see Mickey!... I'd rather see the naked lady!... And dad agrees!"

MOVIE ADS: SEX APPEAL

1988 newspaper ad from Bogotá Colombia

The last time I saw this movie, was during the early nineties!

Sexy comedies were a-dime-a-dozen back in the eighties.

These types of films were also incredibly silly, stupid, predictable, and when done correctly, filled with female nudity.... So, what's wrong with that?

I used to take movies like this for granted. But, I appreciate them now.



SEX APPEAL was written by Chuck Vincent and Craig Horrall. It was also directed by Chuck Vincent.



It stars, Louie Bonanno as Tony, Jerome Brenner as Joe, Marie Sawyer as Louise, Marcia Karr as Christina, Jeffrey Hurst as Donald, and Tally Chanel aka Tally Brittany as Corrine.

Gloria Leonard, Veronica Hart, Candida Royalle, Taija Rae, and Samantha Fox, also make appearances.


Tony does his homework in the bathroom

Tony fantasizes about a women that appears on a bus stop poster.

He's constantly being rejected by women.



When he spots a magazine ad for a book called SEX APPEAL, he rushes to a book store and purchases a copy.

He follows the instructions in the book.

A short time later, he moves into his own place, and "wackiness ensues".


There's a good and bad side to fantasizing

QUOTE from the movie.....
"That big mouth of hers has several uses"

A legit VHS was released in the United States by VESTRON.

I'm NOT sure, but I think the turds at LIONSGATE own the rights to SEX APPEAL. That may explain the absence of a legit region one DVD.... So, you'll have to settle for a grey-market disc.


Samantha Fox and Taija Rae


Veronica Hart


Candida Royalle


Gloria Leonard

I don't know if there are any legit home video releases of this movie in other countries.

I do NOT understand the folks at LIONSGATE.... What's the point of having a home video branch that does NOT release most of the films in it's vaults?

I used to buy their products, but now, I avoid them.....

LARRY "BUD" MELMAN

Screengrab from David Letterman's talk show

Calvert DeForest is remembered by most folks as Larry "Bud" Melman.

But he was acting in movies long before he appeared on Letterman's talk show.

He also did tv shows, music videos, and tv commercials.


Calvert DeForest in the TROMA film WAITRESS!


Calvert DeForest on the cover of a music CD ( left ), and from a RUN DMC music video ( right )

He allegedly appeared in a movie called WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY.

IF this is true, then I think it's really cool that he acted in a Chuck Vincent flick.

If you're familiar with grindhouse / drive-in / VHS era films, then you've probably seen some of Chuck Vincent's movies ( he's also very well known for his adult films ).


Marilu Henner, Calvert DeForest, and David Letterman

I've been told Mr. DeForest also did radio work, but I can NOT confirm this.

I've also been told, he performed at some comedy clubs, but I can NOT confirm that information either.

Hope you're at peace, Mr. DeForest.....