6.20.2008

If video killed the radio star, what killed the video star?

It's funny how "firsts" can be so accurate in setting the tone of something new.

Like the first song ever broadcast on Seattle's 107.7 The End: REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine). In essence they were saying "the world is ending, we're the End, so just be happy about it and listen to some music." Perfect.

Another trivial pop culture nugget, and eerie predictive first was on MTV. The first video ever played on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by Buggles. The song serves to bring back a certain happy sense of nostalgia, but it was weirdly true to my generation; many of my peers abandoned radio in devotion to this "new" medium. MTV set the standards for what was "cool" in music, and many of my friends couldn't wake up without watching an hour of music videos before school.

Now I can't help but wonder what went wrong in a world where "Music Television" hardly plays any music.

In it's heyday - video killing the radio was fairly true. But what if MTV was created today. I'm sure the first song they play would be something along the lines of Reality Killed the Video Star.

2 comments:

  1. Maybe MTV now means Moron TV?

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  2. I too have wondered the same thing. Really MTV should be called NTV? (Narcissitic Television)

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