On Music and MTV

Ever since I was a kid, music has been a huge part of my life.  I truly have a soundtrack to my life.  My dad passed on his love of music to me in a big way.  In the days of family vacations, we would always play music trivia.  We would name the songs, the artists, the year the song was released, etc.  My dad had all of this knowledge in his head and I learned so much from him.  He used to talk to us about arrangements, different genres of music and sampling.  I can easily name any song in one or two notes (given the song is from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s).  I can tell you who sang it and who might have re-made it.

I did not watch a lot of television as a kid.  I did watch some childhood favorites, but the tv was mostly off in our house.  I do not remember spending hours watching MTV, but I do remember loving music videos when I got to see them.  I loved listening to the radio so getting to see the song made into a story was really cool!  I have quite a few favorites, but I will spare you the full list and go with these below:

Bon Jovi - "I'll Be There For You" or "You Give Love a Bad Name":  Hello, Bon Jovi!  I loved me some Bon Jovi.  "You Give Love a Bad Name" will always remind me of the juke box (remember juke boxes!?) at Pizza King.  I loved their videos and I mentioned these two because the videos were awesome.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the U.S.A." or "Glory Days":  I loved Bruce Springsteen.  He was the first record I got as a birthday gift in elementary school.  We had tons of records when I was a kid, but this one was the first that was MINE.  I loved his voice and the stories of his songs.  I loved "Born in the U.S.A." for the butt shot (it was on the album cover too!) and "Glory Days" for the kick-ass opening.  So good!

George Michael - "Freedom! '90" or "Faith":  "Freedom! '90" was just awesome.  Let's all just agree on that one.  The supermodels!  The amazing arrangement!  It rocked!  "Faith" is a personal favorite because I remember taping this song off the radio to learn all the words.  My cousin and I choreographed our own dance to this song and I loved George's voice.

MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This":  Hi, this man can dance!  I loved this song and video for all of its cheesy glory.

Put any Madonna video here.  The Queen of all music videos.  There, I said it.

Prince - "Kiss":  He's provocative.  He has that falsetto.  I just love this song.

Sir Mix-a-Lot - "Baby Got Back":  Oh, Sir Mix-a-Lot.  I love this song.  It is so wrong on so many levels, but it is so, so right.  He dances on top of a big butt!  Also, I it makes me happy that he appreciates large buns.

I could seriously go on and on.  Poison, U2, Cyndi Lauper...the possibilities are endless.  Ah, the heyday of MTV surely was amazing.  The VJs, the anticipation of new videos and the countdowns.  I do miss that.

I should also mention that I still love MTV.  It may not play music anymore, but they have some fantastic programming.  Catfish: The TV Show is my new favorite.  I find it fascinating.  I also love any The Real World or Gauntlet or Duel (or any competition show where the characters act like idiots and compete in insane events).  I also love their True Life series -- I have learned a lot from that show and I have been shocked by that show.  You have to love that!  I appreciate the mindless entertainment of it and appreciate that MTV is still trying for some good programming.