10 acts that owe their success to MTV

We're finally on the eve of the 25th birthday of MTV. So it's time for some of you millionaires out there in Musicland to hand-deliver a heartfelt letter of appreciation along with a nice gift of scented soaps, because without the invention of MTV, you'd still be singing at the lounge at the Days Inn in Wichita Springs (home of the coldest 8-ounce beers in town.)

10 acts that owe their success to MTV:

Men At Work: They came from a land down under, but without videos ("Who Can It Be Now," "Be Good Johnny" and "Down Under" all had heavy rotation), no one would have ever seen their true Aussieness (and the tricky eyeball of Colin Hay).

Def Leppard: They made Union Jack t-shirts cool (for a few weeks anyway) and later proved you could drum with only one arm. All thanks to videos, starting with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages."

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: It's questionable whether anyone outside of England would have heard of the lads from Liverpool before MTV made their video for "Relax" famous -- by banning it.

Paula Abdul: Cheerleader and choreographer, Abdul achieved by herself. But singer, Mrs. Emilio Estevez and future American Idol judge? That's all MTV, baby. Because as videos for "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted" proved, you don't have to sing well -- just so long as you can dance around like a half-naked stripper.

Twisted Sister: "You're all worthless and weak." Yeah, that's how the record biz felt about this New York City act until their comic videos for "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" -- featuring Animal House's "Neidermeyer" (Mark Metcalf) -- scored some album sales.

Weird Al Yankovic: Does anyone ask "Which of Weird Al's songs do you like best?" Nope, they ask "which video."

Stray Cats: It's cool to be old school. Even better when people can actually see it. This rockabilly act had to move from Long Island to England to get noticed. If they'd only waited a little while longer, MTV videos for "Stray Cat Strut" and "Rock This Town" would have worked better.

a-Ha: The Norwegian band went through multiple versions and ignored releases of "Take On Me" before the break-through animated video finally led to millions of sales. Also, a-Ha is the first band to receive a "Best Video" award.

Duran Duran: Plenty talented on their own, but who knew they were such babe magnets until the boys from Birmingham turned video-making into high art with "Rio" and "Hungry Like The Wolf." (Maybe MTV owes them a thank-you letter as well.)

Madonna: Ah, the Material Girl. Nobody would even be calling her that without the video for -- what was that song called? -- oh, yeah ... "Material Girl." If you once dressed like her, danced like her, dyed and wore your hair like her, and yes, if you're now BORED by her, you can thank MTV.

Other acts who should at least drop a card in the mail: Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, U2, Prince, Peter Gabriel, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Robert Palmer.

[Photo: AP; click to enlarge]

Comments

[Grandllama]

Be kinda hard for Mr. Palmer to drop a card in the mail, seeing he had a heart attack while having sex a few years ago.... ah, the typical 80's way to go.

[sergio_101]

how did i not hear about robert palmer? that seems like it would be big news.. weird..

full story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Palmer_%28British_singer%29#Death

[sergio_101]

you know what would be a good list?

artists who had their career grind to a halt after mtv came out..

mtv turned the music world around by placing ultimate importance on looks/fashion/hottiness factor..

this killed off the bumper crop of singer/songwriters from the 70's..

[Bassnote]

Peter Gabriel and Robert Palmer had strong followings long before MTV came in to existance. They just learned to use it to their advantage.

when was everyone's turning point with mtv? when did it 'jump the shark' for you?

[chase]

I can't believe you aren't a bigger fan of:

http://www.thebestlegaladvice.com/

and http://www.999videos.com/

Both are a treasure trove of old videos ... Falco's Amadeus (in German!) and even the first ever video by Buggles (cleverly hidden in the T section under "the buggles") ...

"Pictures came and broke your heart, put the blame on VCRs .. Oh, uh, oh oh ohhhhhhh"

--chase

[chase]

speaking of Buggles, a Spears connection, bing, on Buggles' keyboardist ... "Geoffrey Downes (born August 25, 1952 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England) is a British rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the band Asia."

[Erin]

This might be a little late, but why was Relax banned?

[PencilSharp]

Erin, from what I've heard, both MTV and the BBC banned the origianl "Relax" video for its overt homosexual overtones. You can find it on YouTube if you try.

"Relax," by the way, was reshot with the VISUAL homosexuality toned way down (they used frikkin' lasers), and it did eventually air on MTV, but the lyrics remained the same. I'd delve into that further, but the "Comment Policy" kinda frowns on "obscene, vulgar, or profane" comments. So, there ya go.

~pS!~