THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT.
This song is deceptively simple. But when it came out it ushered in a whole new form of entertainment.... namely the rock video. IT also brought in a whole new wave (.... eh.. NEW WAVE... GET IT?... ) new wave of sounds, colors and visual forms, (not to mention some off the wall haircuts).
This was the invention of Malcom McLaren, (sex pistols, adam ant etc). This band also had the tribal look like his other creations. Artist Vivianne Westwood created their clothing and encouraged them to look as bizarre as possible. When this look came to America it really shook up the airwaves. Kids became addicted to MTV. Mostly because no one really knew what they were going to show next..... that was the fun.
These new record covers really sort of trivialize the bands. They immediately slap THE BIG 80'S on all the releases. But in reality this was not about THE BIG 80'S. The entertainment industry had to let these bands in the MTV network. Americans had very few rock videos to promote. The other thing is that the original album art has been discarded. This is what made these bands notorious in the first place. Controversial. It got people talking. Crikey, the girl singer was only 14 years old when this band started. If you didn't know that then this band loses quite a bit of punch.
Everyone thought there was a British Invasion in 1980. But in reality the Europeans were the first ones to create rock videos. America was behind and had no choice but to show these acts on the MTV network. Eventually Americans would create their own rock videos, (really over budget productions.... seriously) and would filter out the British influence. Then the whole thing was dropped down to the lowest common denominator and became a rap network.... for the most part.
The Brits are still cranking out amazing POP as we speak, (check out the BBC online, or AP Magazine) but we don't celebrate their bands as much in this country like we used to. I actually heard Madness on my hometown radio in Muskegon in 1982 and I thought that was really strange. This music had powerful reach. IT would be the equivalent of hearing the latest BLUR song in my hometown today..... You see? It just isn't going to happen. The early 80's were indeed a magical time.
I really don't know how powerful Malcom McLaren was in the music scene. According to Virgin Records CEO Richard Branson, he was pretty influential. Its difficult to judge exactly what happened in reality. Malcom has a way of making himself shine brilliantly like a superstar. But the truth was this entire evolution of the post punk movement never made it into the books until the late 80's. I'd like to think Malcom was responsible for all this ecentric living. I definately can say he had a vision but I don't know how much of this entire genre is attributed to him directly.
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Ted Cantu - Fascube - 2006
This song is deceptively simple. But when it came out it ushered in a whole new form of entertainment.... namely the rock video. IT also brought in a whole new wave (.... eh.. NEW WAVE... GET IT?... ) new wave of sounds, colors and visual forms, (not to mention some off the wall haircuts).
This was the invention of Malcom McLaren, (sex pistols, adam ant etc). This band also had the tribal look like his other creations. Artist Vivianne Westwood created their clothing and encouraged them to look as bizarre as possible. When this look came to America it really shook up the airwaves. Kids became addicted to MTV. Mostly because no one really knew what they were going to show next..... that was the fun.
These new record covers really sort of trivialize the bands. They immediately slap THE BIG 80'S on all the releases. But in reality this was not about THE BIG 80'S. The entertainment industry had to let these bands in the MTV network. Americans had very few rock videos to promote. The other thing is that the original album art has been discarded. This is what made these bands notorious in the first place. Controversial. It got people talking. Crikey, the girl singer was only 14 years old when this band started. If you didn't know that then this band loses quite a bit of punch.
Everyone thought there was a British Invasion in 1980. But in reality the Europeans were the first ones to create rock videos. America was behind and had no choice but to show these acts on the MTV network. Eventually Americans would create their own rock videos, (really over budget productions.... seriously) and would filter out the British influence. Then the whole thing was dropped down to the lowest common denominator and became a rap network.... for the most part.
The Brits are still cranking out amazing POP as we speak, (check out the BBC online, or AP Magazine) but we don't celebrate their bands as much in this country like we used to. I actually heard Madness on my hometown radio in Muskegon in 1982 and I thought that was really strange. This music had powerful reach. IT would be the equivalent of hearing the latest BLUR song in my hometown today..... You see? It just isn't going to happen. The early 80's were indeed a magical time.
I really don't know how powerful Malcom McLaren was in the music scene. According to Virgin Records CEO Richard Branson, he was pretty influential. Its difficult to judge exactly what happened in reality. Malcom has a way of making himself shine brilliantly like a superstar. But the truth was this entire evolution of the post punk movement never made it into the books until the late 80's. I'd like to think Malcom was responsible for all this ecentric living. I definately can say he had a vision but I don't know how much of this entire genre is attributed to him directly.
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Ted Cantu - Fascube - 2006
