Music and the Eighties
One of the best known decades for music was the eighties. During this generation, there were a number of landmark events. This decade set a standard for music to evolve from for years to come. One of the most recognized advancements was Mtv. It was first debuted on August 1, 1981. This gave way to the first video jockey (VJ). A video jockey was someone who announced videos and told a brief synopsis of the band. Mtv was an outlet for music videos and a gateway for musicians to get their music to the fans. When it first aired at 12:01 am, the first words were, “Ladies and Gentlemen, rock and roll”. The first video played by Mtv was, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. The digital phase wasn’t
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Mtv has been going strong for almost 30 years. In the beginning, they were told they played too many videos, now they are known for not playing enough videos. Mtv also made way for many music shows. Because of its recognition, more music videos were being played by other stations. Some of these were HBO’s Video Jukebox, WTBS aired Night Tracks, ABC came out with ABC Rocks and VH1 got its start. There was a lot of history making events in the eighties with music. In 1980, the legendary John Lennon of the Beatles was murdered. On May 11, 1981, the popular Reggae music star, Bob Marley died. In 1982, Michael Jackson’s album, Thriller is released. In 1983, the first music CD is sold. In 1984, Marvin Gaye dies, Prince’s first film, Purple Rain is debuted, Michael Jackson gets burned in a Pepsi commercial and Tina Turner makes a comeback. In 1985, Whitney Houston releases her first album and the popular song, “We Are the World” is produced. In 1988, music CDs outsells vinyl records. In 1989, Milli Vanilli wins the Best New Artist Grammy and then has it taken away because they were caught lip synching. It’s hard to talk about music today without bringing up music from the eighties. Some of the artists today got their ideas and musical talent from watching their idols from that decade. For example, Usher credits his dancing and musical talent from Michael
Although the two decades were different in themselves, there is still a parallel running between the two. Both were times of change, with popular culture culminated for the newly recognised youth, each decade had their own brand of pop music, and their own brand of teenagers.
During the time of the 1980’s, there was a lot going on in our history. Cold War was on its last years in the 1980s. In the United States its military ended involvement in Vietnam. Also, the civil rights movement and women’s movements reached many of their goals (“1970s and ‘80”). Ronald Reagan became president and benefited the economy. When he was president, they called it the Reagan years. During his first terms, the recession ended, inflation
Rock and roll has largely impacted the music industry. The 60’s were the era of feel good music while the 70’s created the disco era. The 80’s called for something new and crazy all together, it was completely different and more complex from the past decades of rock and roll. The 80’s brought visual aspects to music. As a result, MTV aired the first music video ever made on August 1, 1981 which “killed the radio star”. This music video created a new trend for current musical artists and upcoming artists, it created a way for artists to express the meaning of the song. Music videos made radios an accessory mainly used for cars. MTV created a place where unknown and small time artists could become a household name. Some of these artists include
The events that are affected by the 1980s decade was music, music has influenced the 1980s so much with Madonna and Michael Jackson. Madonnas hair was all the rage, big curly hair with ratted bangs as high as you could get them she was the queen of the 1980s her fashion influenced so much of the 1980s, girls were curling there bangs just like Madonna she was an icon everyone looked up to her.
MTV, formally known as Music Television, is one of the most viewed networks on television today. Roughly thirty-three years old, it has changed the American culture drastically in more than just one way. Specifically targeting teens and young adults, the MTV network provides all of the most up to date gossip on celebrities, highlights the latest fashion trends, promotes versified lifestyles, and defines the music industry of our generation. However, this so-called “idolized network” has not always been this way. The American culture has been affected by MTV through the creation of the network, the transformation from simply just music television to inappropriate reality shows, and the promotion of inappropriate content.
During the popular music culture of the 80’s, many music groups started standing out in the crowd to us as extremely controversial; none more than the highly controversial
Iconic legends like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Prince, Def Leppard, and Guns N' Roses built MTV. Music fanatics like myself used to run home from school, just so we could witness a Michael Jackson music video. MTV is the reason I listen to all genres of music including Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, and R&B. BET was so instrumental in making sure R&B artists were recognized and respected. If it wasn't for BET, legendary musicians like Patti LaBelle, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, and New Edition may have gone unnoticed by the world. MTV and BET were important factors in the music business- I just wish the networks understood how essential they are in this battle to get music back to its dominance. Music deserves to be played/viewed on the major MTV and BET channels- not the affiliate MTV and BET channels that most people don't have access to. Television is a vital platform, and artists need that platform in order to help promote their
In the 90’s, the concept of music was a huge explosion compared to previous years, though there were many more acts of creativity. Primarily, music played a huge part in society as apposed to other decades.
MTV galloped through the '80s as a factor of musical taste, style and fashion. During the early '80s, the network helped introduce an entire stable of new music stars.
As America headed into the 1980s, two decades of social and political upheaval have left the nation rattled and the economy weakened. The Iran hostage crisis shook America's confidence and many looked for a new kind of leader to steer the country into the new decade. Ronald Reagan led America into a new era of prosperity leaving the soul-searching of the 60s and 70s behind. The nation was ready to enjoy itself and with plenty of new toys to play like VCRs and video games, Americans spent more time at home and soon something called cable TV would make it even harder to leave the living room. With the new innovation of the TV, one of the ideas for a channel was a marriage between music and television. This new idea for a channel devoted to something called music videos would end up revolutionizing and often scandalizing an industry that had no choice but to embrace the fact that music in the 1980s had to have a face with videos. By having these music videos, they would change the way we look at music and the way we look at the world. This cutting- edge idea was a new medium perfectly suited to a new generation and that idea was called, MTV. This leads to the question: How did MTV influence pop culture of the 1980’s? This topic is worthy of investigation because the coming of MTV has had a significant impact on the way people see pop culture. Before researching the topic, the writer had limited knowledge on MTV and only knew about the music itself. In the paper, the writer was
I see the rattle and the hum of music television. Flash upon flash of sensory information lights the screen with sound bites, flashbulbs, sex and rock and roll. I am watching MTV in the semi-darkness of a friend's living room and it is easy for me to understand the attraction of this style of television. MTV is pure energy. It has vitality, powerful images, larger-than-life heroes, and the edginess that the best pop music always has. I find MTV strangely hypnotic. I could sit, entranced by the flickering images and incessant beats, for hours.
MTV can be defined as “a cable and satellite television channel which broadcasts popular music and promotional music videos.” (oxforddictionaries.com.n.d.). Launched on August 1st 1981, MTV’s programme started out by helping musicians gain exposure through music videos. This helped TV audiences connect with music by new means. As MTV became more recognised, the network branched out by creating new means of entertainment. MTV has remained relevant by continuously adapting throughout its existence to meet their audience’s entertainment requirements. (International MTV and Globalisation).
The 80 's was an eye opener to a lot of new things, new music, new styles, new points of view on life and new technology. Music was a big hit for the 80 's and so was the technology. A home, family, job and fun was basically what everyone needed to live ahappy life. In the 80 's, people saw the American dream, as a simple task of success andthose years defined them. They were the generation in between differences and facing disagreement andnot turning our backs. The 80 's may have made them idealistic, but it 's idealism that will push themand be passed on to their children, the first children of the twenty-first century.
Music has played a vital role in human culture and evidence based on archaeological sites can date it back to prehistoric times. It can be traced through almost all civilizations in one form or another. As time has progressed so has the music and the influences it has on people. Music is an important part of popular culture throughout the world, but it is especially popular in the United States. The music industry here is, and has been, a multi-million dollar business that continues to play an important role in American popular culture. This is also a art form and business that is forever changing as the times and more importantly, technology changes. Technology has changed the way music is made as well as how it is produced,
The 2000s started a change in music very different as the ones in past decades, since this was the year technology commenced rise importance in human life. Hence, the usage of auto-tune, pitch corrections and multimedia programmes started to be used in multiple songs of this decade, also YouTube will appear in the upcoming years as a way to share music videos, therefore, varied hits of this decade, like Hey Ya! From OutKast or Crazy in love by Beyonce have some of the new technological features and give videos a big importance. Under those circumstances, the differences between those 3 decades are that in the 1980s, music criticized people living situations, in the 1990s, music criticized mentality and the living generation and in the 2000s, music talked about the changes society was living. To sum up, music will keep changing throughout the years. In some years, some of the themes music can talked about are the continuous technological advances or how humans are ending themselves. Nevertheless, given the situations we’re living today, music could talk about the imminent wars that could