A GREAT DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY

First of all, I apologize to both of you who have been anxiously awaiting my next post. Since I work in the world of Academia, I'd like to say I've been on a "sabbatical." However...since I'm not on faculty, nor do I have a Masters or a PhD, that excuse doesn't hold much consistency.

So let's just say I've been immensely lazy.

Now that that's out of the way, allow me to extol the greatness of August 1st in the annals of history. No, there were no great mysteries solved on this date, nor did scientists find a cure for a devastating disease. No great battles were fought, and no holidays were created.

But 25 years ago today, MTV hit the airways!

Now for those of you who don't remember, MTV used to play a thing called "music videos." I think you can still see a music video every once in a while...but to be honest, I haven't seen one in years!

Anyhow, my family didn't have cable television...so I was forced to wander down the street to Gray Bullis' house to get my MTV fix. In between games of "horse" and a variety of Atari-related video games, we would drift into the living room and take in a little MTV. Admittedly, there would've been much healthier ways for me to spend a Saturday afternoon...but a young boy in the midst of the mystery of pubescence just seems drawn to things like that.

So...in honor of MTV's 25th birthday, I'd like to pay homage to my 10 favorite videos of all time:

10. "Take On Me" (A-ha) -- One of the greatest one-hit wonders in history also made one of the coolest videos in history, dragging an unwitting lady into the lead singer's getaway saga in a comic book. Neat...but the end was a little weird.
9. "Hot For Teacher" (Van Halen) -- In the mid-80s, ANYTHING containing David Lee Roth was cool...and EVERY Van Halen video had something interesting. For obvious reasons, Gray always found this to be an entertaining video. I insisted on going to the other room to pray for him when this was on.
8. "Magic" (The Cars) -- The creepiest lookin' dude in rock'n'roll (Ric Ocasek) outdoes himself in this one. I can best describe this video as the way one of the gospel writers would have told the story of Jesus walking on the water...had the gospel writer been tripping on acid!!!
7. "Walk This Way" (Run D.M.C. w/Aerosmith) -- I guess this was the original crossover of rap into rock'n'roll (and no, Blondie's "Rapture" doesn't count!). The song is okay...but the video is especially entertaining...specifically because all of the participants look so uncomfortable with each other. I'm sure he made good money on it, but Steven Tyler and Joe Perry just don't look happy about having three guys from Hollis, Queens, giving their song an urban sound. Conversely, Run D.M.C. doesn't seem all-too comfortable being around these two long-haired old men...especially at the end of the song, when Steven Tyler starts some spastic looking dance and tries to rap his arms around DJ Run and D.M.C. Funny!
6. "Shiny Happy People" (R.E.M.) -- The boys from Athens, GA, don't look like your average rock band. There isn't one of them that is especially sexy or even attractive...and so they capitalize on that by being goofy. To film "Shiny Happy People," they stood out on a street corner and asked random passers-by if they wanted to be in a video. Then they taught them this quirky dance, filmed it...and VOILA! A great video. And don't overlook the great Kate Pierson of the B-52's lending her beautiful voice and face to the performance as well.
5. "I've Got My Mind Set On You" (George Harrison) -- My favorite Beatle uses a wide array of inanimate objects to help him sing this great song. I especially enjoy the bobbing parakeet.
4. "You Might Think" (The Cars) -- Yet another creepy offering from the Jeff Goldblum of 80s rock. Rick Ocasek goes so far as to become a fly just to be around this poor, tortured female soul...eventually running over her in a car.
3. "Like A Virgin" (Madonna) -- I guess this means I'll need to respond to the invitation on Sunday.
2. "We're Not Gonna Take It" (Twisted Sister") - The annoying ROTC Patton-wannabe from "Animal House" takes all out abuse from the cross-dressing metal heads in this anthem advising kids to listen to their music as loud as they want.

And number one...

1. "Oh Sherry" (Steve Perry) -- I know what you're thinking...but I loved this video. More than that....I was in love with Sherry. I have no idea who the girl was...all I knew was that she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen....and she was hanging out with Steve Perry?!?!?!? It just goes to show you that if you can sing, beautiful women fall all over you!

Honorable mention goes out to "Money For Nothing" (Dire Straits); "Too Young To Fall In Love" (Motley Crue); "Raspberry Beret" (Prince...or whatever he's calling himself these days); and "Metro" (Berlin).

That's all I got. Yes, I'm well aware that I listed no Michael Jackson songs on my countdown...but you may feel free to list him on yours.

It's good to be back...