MTV Turns 40 – Articles About this Anniversary from Various Sites

MTV Turns 40 – Articles About this Anniversary from Various Sites

August 4, 2021

I still have cable TV – I know a lot of people use streaming platforms these days – but there are actually two Mtv channels on cable. There is the channel that is in the top 100, and a secondary Mtv channel over the 100 or 200 range (I think my cable company has Mtv at channel 234 or something).

Most rock, dance, rap, and pop music is pure trash these days, but I periodically stop and watch the secondary Mtv channel now, because they actually play music videos all day long – just like back in the 1980s. mtvlogo

Because most of today’s rock and pop singer are bland, and the majority of their music is hideous, though, I cannot stand to watch very much of it.

I do remember when the first and only Mtv channel more or less played music videos all day back in the 1980s.

40 Years of MTV: the channel that shaped popular culture as we know it

Excerpts:

by Adam Behr

MTV’s first broadcast on August 1 1981 opened with footage of a shuttle launch and the words “ladies and gentleman, rock and roll”. The first song, however, was The Buggles’ distinctly poppy single –appropriately enough, Video Killed the Radio Star.

MTV’s effect on record sales was quickly noted. During the channel’s initial rise and 1980s heyday, it helped to kick-start the careers of stars such as Cyndi Lauper, and launched others – like Madonna and Michael Jackson – into the stratosphere.

Continue reading “MTV Turns 40 – Articles About this Anniversary from Various Sites”

Queen Greatest Hits’ on Course to Reclaim Number One Spot for the First Time in 40 Years

Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ on Course to Reclaim Number One Spot for the First Time in 40 Years

July 11, 2021

What Year Is It? The Number 1 and 2 Albums on iTunes Are 40 (Queen) and 50 (Joni Mitchell) Years Old

July 4, 2021

What year is it again?

Over the weekend, Queen’s Greatest Hits went to number 1 on iTunes. Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” is number 2.

Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ Set to be Crowned Again on U.K. Albums Chart

Excerpts:

by Lars Brandle

The British rock legends’ Greatest Hits package is on pace for No. 1, thanks to a surge of activity around its 40th anniversary reissue.

Queen

According to the Official Charts Company, the collection leads the midweek chart by over 4,000 combined sales, with physical formats accounting for 86% of the tally so far.

If it keeps its momentum when the weekly chart is published this Friday, it’ll mark the album’s fifth week at the summit, and its first stint at the top since the LP ruled the chart for four straight weeks in November and December 1981.

With more than six million copies sold, Queen’s Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the history of the U.K.’s recorded music industry.

Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ on Course to Reclaim Number One Spot for the First Time in 40 Years

The album was first released in 1981
By Charlotte Krol
5th July 2021

Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ is eyeing up its return to the UK Number One spot on the Official Albums Chart this week.

Continue reading “Queen Greatest Hits’ on Course to Reclaim Number One Spot for the First Time in 40 Years”

The Sudden, Lucrative Gold Rush for Old Music by Andy Greene and Kory Grow

The Sudden, Lucrative Gold Rush for Old Music by Andy Greene and Kory Grow

The Sudden, Lucrative Gold Rush for Old Music

Excerpts:

As the giants of classic rock contemplate retirement, music execs are dreaming up increasingly bold new ways to eke value out of their brands, images, and back catalogs

June 8, 2021

….Up till now, living, breathing classic-rock icons like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan haven’t had to worry much about tending to their respective flames. Touring, merch, and clever marketing of their catalogs have sustained them for well over six decades.

But the pandemic has kept them off the road for more than a year, and several of them are reaching an age where road work won’t be possible much longer. “Mick Jagger is 77,” Jampol says [Jampol has managed the estates of the Doors, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Tupac Shakur] “At some point you’ve got to go, ‘I’m going to enjoy my grandkids.’”

It’s at that point when a band or artist, and the team around them, faces a crucial question: How can the afterlife of a career in rock maintain, or even surpass, what that act achieved in their prime?

Continue reading “The Sudden, Lucrative Gold Rush for Old Music by Andy Greene and Kory Grow”

There’s A New Number One Classic Rock Song (July 2021)

There’s A New Number One Classic Rock Song (July 2021)

There’s A New Number One Classic Rock Song

The greatest rock and roll song of all time is not “Stairway to Heaven,” “Layla” or “Freebird.”

This Memorial Day Weekend, the Home of Rock and Roll conducted its annual countdown of the top 500 songs of all time. The countdown also coincided with the 45th anniversary of the first time WPDH signed on the air as a rock station in the Hudson Valley.

Joan Jett
Joan Jett

Through those four and half decades, the countdown has always been a sore spot with listeners and radio DJs tasked with compiling the list from thousands of requests, record sale charts, critical reviews and a strong “gut feeling.”

The running joke is that “Stairway to Heaven” is the undisputed greatest rock and roll song of all time and the countdown is just a formality as it ultimately leads to the epic Led Zeppelin tune once again claiming victory.

But that’s actually far from the truth.

Continue reading “There’s A New Number One Classic Rock Song (July 2021)”

Duran Duran’s “Rio” Turns 39 Years Old (2021)

Duran Duran’s “Rio” Turns 39 Years Old (2021)

Some sources are stating its 40th anniversary will be coming up, while other say it’s 39.

Duran Duran was really popular when I was in junior high school, and remained fairly popular up through my sophomore or junior year of high school.

While I did (and still do) love much of Duran Duran’s music, I was more of an A-ha fan back in the day (I had a big crush on lead singer Morten Harket).

I remember that the teen media back then were always trying to pit A-ha against Duran Duran, which I found strange, because even though A-ha was my favorite, I liked Duran Duran too.

Below, an assortment of links to articles about the album’s anniversary.

Duran Duran’s ‘Rio’ LP Turns Almost Forty in 2021, as GenX Swoons

Duran Duran’s ‘Rio’ At 39: Listen, Read—And Sip

Excerpts:

by Amanda Schuster

Duran Duran
Duran Duran in the 1980s

… This year, the band’s second, platinum-selling album, Rio, celebrates its 39th anniversary. It delivered massive hits such as “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Save a Prayer” and “Rio” that still sound fresh and invigorating. The groundbreaking record also included brooding tracks like ”Lonely In Your Nightmare,” “The Chauffeur” and “New Religion”.

A new book by music journalist Annie Zaleski, Duran Duran’s Rio (33 ⅓ Book 156), details what brought this beloved record to life. Through research and interviews with current band members—Simon LeBon (lead vocals), Nick Rhodes (synthesizer), John Taylor (bass), Roger Taylor (drums)—plus departed guitarist Andy Taylor (suggested alternate band name: Unrelated Taylors), various studio musicians, video directors and other assorted players, a compelling behind the scenes story unfolds.

Continue reading “Duran Duran’s “Rio” Turns 39 Years Old (2021)”

Dirty Dancing: Video of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s Screen Test for Iconic Movie Resurfaces

Dirty Dancing: Video of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s Screen Test for Iconic Movie Resurfaces

Dirty Dancing: Video of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s Screen Test for Iconic Movie Resurfaces

by Clémence Michallon
June 14, 2021

A nostalgic clip of Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s screen test for Dirty Dancing has resurfaced.

The video was filmed during the development phase of the 1987 classic, presumably to gauge Swayze and Grey’s on-screen chemistry.

 The sequence was even the subject of a fact-check by Snopes over the weekend, which reached the conclusion that a popular online clip of the screen test appeared to be authentic.

Continue reading “Dirty Dancing: Video of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s Screen Test for Iconic Movie Resurfaces”

Paula Abdul Recalls How ‘Straight Up’ Began in a Shower: ‘It Changed My Life’

Paula Abdul Recalls How ‘Straight Up’ Began in a Shower: ‘It Changed My Life’

Paula Abdul Recalls How ‘Straight Up’ Began in a Shower: ‘It Changed My Life’

“I was obsessed with the song. Obsessed,” Paula Abdul says on this week’s episode of the PEOPLE in the ’90s podcast of her breakout single “Straight Up” which she first recorded in a shower

By Glenn Garner
June 17, 2021

Paula Abdul was one of the biggest names in the pop music scene of the ’90s, but the musician came from humble beginnings.

The two-time Grammy Award winner, 58, appears on this week’s episode of the PEOPLE in the ’90s podcast, where she recounts how her hit 1988 single “Straight Up” was the song that “changed my life,” after she first recorded it in a shower.

Continue reading “Paula Abdul Recalls How ‘Straight Up’ Began in a Shower: ‘It Changed My Life’”

NYC in the ’80s Changed Music – and Launched Madonna, Run-DMC and More

NYC in the ’80s Changed Music – and Launched Madonna, Run-DMC and More

NYC in the ’80s Changed Music – and Launched Madonna, Run-DMC and More

Zachary Kussin
June 11, 2021

How did disco sound when it died? In 1980s New York, it disappeared in a melodic revolution of hip-hop beats and rock riffs that helped fuel the rise of contemporary music.

Now, a just-opened museum exhibit explores the peak years of this musical renaissance, which changed the local cultural landscape — and eventually found its way to a global stage.

“New York, New Music: 1980-1986,” on view at the Museum of the City of New York, shows visitors how it all happened — thanks to emerging genres, new collaborations and the power of television. Another factor: a slow transition out of the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, which meant that New York was still affordable.

“That allowed a lot of artists to be freely creative and not have to also worry about making music as a career — and so people could be a little more experimental,” said Sean Corcoran, 47, the exhibit’s curator. “In the end, what we see is a lot of meeting and sharing of ideas across different communities … we thought that was a very New York story.”

…The exhibit uses photos, video clips and more to focus on this era, highlighting 14 moments that changed music forever.
Continue reading “NYC in the ’80s Changed Music – and Launched Madonna, Run-DMC and More”

New York Post: “Cancel Culture is Out of Control – and Gen X is Our Only Hope” – and The Disappointing Gen X Reactions to the Editorial

New York Post: “Cancel Culture is Out of Control – and Gen X is Our Only Hope” – and the Disappointing Gen X Reactions to the Editorial 

So Matthew Hennessey wrote an editorial at New York Post about how and why Gen X should or can fight back against “cancel culture,” this editorial was picked up by Fox News, and this in turn found its way to social media, where many Gen X commented upon it.

As for me, I am a Gen Xer, and I do not support “cancel culture.”

I do not support what is a largely leftist phenomenon of intimidating or silencing dissenters into silence, getting them fired from their jobs, or getting them permanently bounced from Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube.

Cancel culture is out of control — and Gen X is our only hope

March 13, 2021
By Matthew Hennessey

First it was Huck Finn. Then it was JK Rowling. Last week it was “The Muppet Show.” This week it’s Dumbo. It’s only a matter of time before “Star Wars” gets canceled and you know it.

Will Gen X please stand up? I have something I want to say to you — to us.

We grew up in a country that didn’t ban books. We all agreed that witch hunts and blacklists were bad. Censorship was an outrage. The 1980s were not that long ago. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Continue reading “New York Post: “Cancel Culture is Out of Control – and Gen X is Our Only Hope” – and The Disappointing Gen X Reactions to the Editorial”

Funny And Too-Real Tweets About Gen X by Caroline Bologna

Funny And Too-Real Tweets About Gen X by Caroline Bologna

Funny And Too-Real Tweets About Gen X by Caroline Bologna

May 18, 2021

“I’m not going to look up why ‘Gen X’ is trending I’ll just assume it’s because we died.”

There’s been much ado about the differences between Generation Y (aka millennials) and Generation Z. But considerably less attention is paid to the folks who were born before them ― the oft-forgotten Generation X.

And Gen Xers might be just fine with that. At least many of the funny ones on Twitter seem to be. We’ve rounded up 45 hilarious and relatable tweets about Gen X. Enjoy!

[Here are just a few examples from their article; I won’t be sharing them all below]

Continue reading “Funny And Too-Real Tweets About Gen X by Caroline Bologna”

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