Blasts from the Past

I've picked up a new electronic habit: YouTube.com. Nearly any music video I watched during MTV's Golden Age can be found there (for those of you under 30, that'd be back when MTV = "Music Television," and the network actually played music videos). They've also got extended clips from operas and symphonies and soundtracks I happen to like. For fun, I thought I'd share my "Favorites" list from the '80s pop music genre. It interested me that some artists, like Prince, have done their level best to stop fans from posting their videos on YouTube to protect their copyrights. What did he do when VCRs came out? Send a posse to people's homes when they taped his videos? I'm beginning to go along with my friend Jason's take on digital rights: if I am downloading stuff off the internet, but STILL going out and buying the original products (books, CDs, etc.), the artist isn't missing out on my money.

And yes, this would be the point where my friend Martin can take my crack about the '70s being a low point for fashion and music and chuck it into an oubliette. There are very few sane outfits or hair styles in this group. So it goes.

• Alan Parsons Project, Don't Answer Me
• Tasmin Archer, Sleeping Satellite
• Pat Benatar, Invincible, Love is a Battlefield
• David Bowie, Let's Dance
• John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, On the Dark Side
• Irene Cara, What a Feeling / Flashdance Theme
• The Cars, Drive
• Phil Collins, Don't Lose My Number
• Devo, Whip It
• Dexy's Midnight Runners, Come On Eileen
• Dire Straits, Money for Nothing
• Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me With Science
• Duran Duran, New Moon on Monday, Wild Boys
• Melissa Etheridge, I'm the Only One
• Eurythmics, Here Comes the Rain Again, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
• The Fixx, One Thing Leads to Another
• Peter Gabriel, Sledgehammer
• Genesis, Land of Confusion, That's All
• Golden Earring, Twilight Zone
• Guns 'n' Roses, Knocking on Heaven's Door, November Rain
• Dan Hartman, I Can Dream About You
• The Jump in the Saddle Band, The Curly Shuffle
• Greg Kihn Band, Our Love's in Jeopardy
• The Kinks, Come Dancing
• Laid Back, White Horse
• K. D. Lang, Constant Craving
• Cyndi Lauper, Time After Time
• Huey Lewis and the News, If This is It, I Want a New Drug
• Kenny Loggins, Danger Zone, Footloose
• Madonna, Into the Groove, Material Girl, Papa Don't Preach, Vogue
• Manfred Mann, Runner
• Men at Work, Land Down Under
• Men Without Hats, The Safety Dance
• The Motels, Only the Lonely
• Naked Eyes, Promises, Promises
• Nena, 99 Luftballoons, 99 Red Balloons
• Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall
• The Police, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger
• Power Station, Some Like It Hot
• Queen, Radio Ga-Ga
• Rockwell, Somebody's Watching Me
• Romeo Void, Never Say Never
• David Lee Roth, Just a Giggolo, Yankee Rose
• Peter Schilling, Major Tom
• Scorpions, No One Like You
• Rick Springfield, Bob 'Til You Drop
• Styx, Mr. Roboto, Music Time
• Donna Summer, She Works Hard for the Money
• Talking Heads, Burning Down the House
• 'Til Tuesday, Hush, Hush
• The Tubes, She's a Beauty
• Tina Turner, We Don't Need Another Hero / Thunderdome, What's Love Got to Do with it
• Twisted Sister, I Wanna Rock, We're Not Gonna Take It
• Bonnie Tyler, Holding Out for a Hero
• Van Halen, Hot for Teacher
• Deniece Williams, Let's Hear it for the Boy
• Weird Al Yankovic, Eat It
• Yes, Owner of a Lonely Heart

Generation X readers, feel free to add your own favorites to the list...