First Video Ever Played on MTV

The Beijing Olympics has been all over the news lately. In fact, it has practically dominated the global news spotlight that not even a shooting war that has erupted between the former Soviet republic of Georgia and its bully-of-a-neighbor Russia could nudge it from the headlines. Anyway, as a result of these two major events, August 1 went by quietly last week with hardly anybody noticing a little milestone. On that date, the music channel MTV quietly marked its 27th anniversary.

It was on August 1, 1981 when MTV made its debut to a new generation of music lovers. It was an immediate success. It revolutionized the music industry and spawned successful sister music channels such as VH1 and CMT (Country Music Television).

The following is the music video that holds the distinction as the first ever to be played on MTV:

The song is called "Video Killed the Radio Star" and was performed by a British New Wave band called the Buggles. The song was written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley before the band was formed. However by the time the Buggles as a band came into existence, only Messr. Horn and Downes remained. Mr. Woolley was no longer with his two songwriting partners by then, having decided to pursue his own music interests.

Mr. Horn did the vocals and played bass guitar on the song while Mr. Downes played the keyboards. Two ladies, Debbie Doss and Linda Jardim, provided the backup vocals.

The song was no longer new by the time MTV made its debut in 1981. The song was originally released in October 1979 and became an immediate number one hit in the United Kingdom. Although the song got a lot of airplay and gained quite a bit of following in the United States, its sales were not strong enough to crack the Billboard Top 40.

Given the song's title, one could say that the folks at MTV were quite cocky but prescient when they decided to use it as their debut music video. At the dawn of MTV, no one could have predicted save for the visionaries at MTV that the music channel would revolutionize the music industry. It provided a new channel (no pun intended) for music artists, old and new, to be introduced to music fans.

I was already a freshman in college when I got introduced to the music videos shown on MTV. At the time, cable television was pretty much non-existent in the Philippines. People's television sets were powered by antennas then and thus, tv programming was obtained from the five Filipino TV networks that were in operation (or were allowed to operate by the Marcos Dictatorship) at the time namely, BBC 2 and RPN-9 (both stations operated by the Benedicto family), PTV-4 (operated by the government), GMA-7 (owned by Menardo Gimenez), and IBC-13 (also government-operated).

There were hour-long television shows then that featured the latest MTV videos. It was through those music video shows where I first saw new and rising recording stars such as Madonna, Duran Duran, Boy George and the Culture Club, Tears For Fears, and Wham among many others. Unfortunately, my memory is failing me at the moment for I can't recall what those shows were. Sigh. Can anybody recall what they were?

As a group, the Buggles were a one hit wonder. However, members of the band, specifically Mr. Horn, found success afterwards as a record producer for acts such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Lisa Stansfield, Yes, China Crisis, LeAnn Rimes, and Seal. Mr. Horn was also a co-writer of Seal's hit "Kiss By A Rose".

Let me leave you then with the lyrics of the song that helped usher in a music channel that forever changed the music industry.

I heard you on the wireless back in Fifty Two
Lying awake intent at tuning in on you.
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through.
Oh-a oh

They took the credit for your second symphony.
Rewritten by machine and new technology,
and now I understand the problems you can see.

Oh-a oh
I met your children
Oh-a oh
What did you tell them?

Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.
Pictures came and broke your heart.

Oh-a-a-a oh

And now we meet in an abandoned studio.
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago.
And you remember the jingles used to go.

Oh-a oh
You were the first one.
Oh-a oh
You were the last one.

Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone to far
Oh-a-aho oh,
Oh-a-aho oh

Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.

In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone to far.
Pictures came and broke your heart, put the blame on VTR.

You are a radio star.
You are a radio star.
Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.

Sweet Revenge

First a WARNING: Adult language is present in the videos. If you're below 13 years of age, this post is not for you.

The following is a series of clips from the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Some of you may have already seen these clips but they detailed the animosity that brewed between the tv host and the actor Matt Damon back in 2006.

Matt Damon was supposed to guest on Mr. Kimmel's show a number of times but his invitations to appear on the show had always been either canceled or postponed almost always due to "lack of time". So when he finally got to appear on Jimmy's show, this was the reception he got:

Mr. Damon left the show in a rage in spite of Mr. Kimmel's profuse apologies and efforts to put the matter to rest. Mr. Damon must have felt so humiliated by the experience that he decided to strike back.

Mr. Kimmel, obviously hurt by Sarah Silverman's (his girlfriend at the time) betrayal, also decided to strike back at Mr. Damon where it could hurt the latter the most.

This star-studded effort at revenge ought to put the matter to rest.

Anyway, if you had a difficult time figuring out some of the words to the "I'm F##king Ben Affleck" song in the previous clip, the following clip shows the lyrics as sub-titles.

I hope you enjoyed this little humor break. :)

An Afternoon By The Potomac

The hotel I stayed in at Alexandria, Virginia a few weeks ago happened to be very close to the Potomac River. I was lucky in that the city had a small park by the river called Tide Lock Park and my hotel was just a block away from it. So one weekday afternoon after work, I decided to take a walk in the park to enjoy the sites and to take in some fresh air. The park had some park benches near the water where one could sit and relax to enjoy a nice, lazy afternoon.


The photo below shows the banks of the river and a walkway next to it. The walkway is quite long and stretches for at least eight miles along the banks of the Potomac River.


A shot of one section of the walkway. The area at the other side of the river is Washington, D.C.


A shot of another part of the same walkway. This time, in the background, one can see the faint outline of the Washington Monument at the left. One could also see towards the right the dome of the US Capitol.


Another shot of the river's banks.


On the way back to the hotel, I walked by these nice colonial-style townhomes. They were in a great spot for they had a clear, unobstructed view of the river.


The townhomes were on a rise or hill and I walked a bit towards them to take a closer shot.


I took another shot of the townhomes as soon as I got back to my hotel room. The following picture is a shot of those homes from my hotel window. The picture shows how close those homes are to the river.


The bridge you see in the background is the Woodrow Wilson Bridge which links Alexandria, Virginia to Washington, D.C.

I enjoyed my brief walk in Tide Lock Park that afternoon. The views and the fresh air helped me destress that afternoon.

The Dance Of The Rolls

I was supposed to follow up my Alexandria, Virginia series with some more photos of the place but I will digress for just a bit. Although I haven't written much about movies on this blog, I do enjoy watching good movies regardless of whether a film is a new release or a classic. I developed an interest in movies from my mother's side of the family.
My maternal grandfather loved going to the movies as a hobby and it was through him that I first heard of the great comedian Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). My grandfather loved to talk about the Chaplin movies he enjoyed, especially those he saw during the pre-war "peace time" period. The Chaplin movies he loved were The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and Mr. Chaplin's semi-autobiographical movie, Limelight (1952). Mr. Chaplin became famous for playing the role of "The Tramp", a gentleman vagrant who always managed to do the honorable and decent thing in spite of the very rough and tough circumstances he was in.

Mr. Chaplin was heralded as the complete artist for not only did he star in his films, he also produced and directed them, wrote their script, scored their music, and whenever the story called for it, he even choreographed the dances.

I'm wondering then if anyone can copy and perfect the following performance as a way to entertain friends either over lunch or dinner:

The scene above featured Charlie Chaplin in the classic movie "The Gold Rush" released by United Artists back in 1925. Mr. Chaplin called this particular scene "The Dance of the Rolls" and it showed him perform it before a group of lady friends. The clip captures how Mr. Chaplin brought two seemingly ordinary dinner rolls to life by mimicking a ballerina's dance to the obvious delight of his little audience.

The genius of Mr. Chaplin shines in this scene for one can just imagine the amount of creativity, timing, and physical coordination required to present such gem of a performance. He made the movements seem so easy when in fact they were far from being so. Johnny Depp copied the same movements 68 years later in a movie called "Benny and Joon" (1993) where he played the role of an eccentric who cared for and won the heart of a mentally ill woman. In a later interview, Mr. Depp stated that the performance was quite difficult for it took him three weeks to copy, rehearse and perfect Mr. Chaplin's moves.

The following video clip compares the two performances:

With no offense meant towards Mr. Depp, one can clearly see that Mr. Chaplin appeared more relaxed in his performance and thus his moves appeared a lot more fluid. I do not know how many hours Mr. Chaplin devoted to prepare for such a fine performance but one thing is clear, this performance is but one of the many reasons as to why to this day, Mr. Chaplin continues to be both an idol and an influence to many career film and television comedians.

Alexandria - A Sentimental Trip

I was in Alexandria, Virginia on a one-week assignment a few weeks ago. I love this town because aside from its rich history, I lived here for a few months many years ago as I was starting life out here in America. My late uncle was very kind enough to let me stay at his place rent-free while I looked for a job.

According to Wikipedia, Alexandria lies 6 miles south of Washington, D.C., or roughly a ten-minute drive. The buildings in the "Old Town" district of this city are at least 250 years old and are about three storeys tall on the average.

The following photo shows one of the markers in the Old Town district that talk about Alexandria's origins:


The following photo shows an exact replica of the house George Washington owned and stayed in whenever he was in town. It is on Cameron Street and stands on the exact spot where his house originally stood. This replica, a faithful reconstruction of the original home, was built in the early 1960s.


The 2006 Honda Civic parked in front of Washington's house is also a replica of the one he used to own. This fuel-efficient and fully-loaded car was a gift to him from a grateful nation. (Please ignore those two sentences. In addition, per Rudy's observation, the car was actually a Toyota Vios and not a Honda Civic as I had earlier thought it to be. Sorry about that. Hehehe)

The following photo shows the same house but taken from a slightly different angle. On this photo a bust of George Washington can be seen behind the left window.


The following sign was right in front of a restaurant called Gadsby's Tavern. It is on Royal Street and is one of the most famous and historic restaurants in town, having been continuously in business since 1770. As the sign says, George Washington used to be a regular patron and according to its website so were other US presidents such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and James Monroe.


The following shows the tavern's front door. Note the low position of the door knob. I was told that that's how doors were built back in those days. It also probably had something to do with the average height of the people back then. Although George Washington stood more than six feet tall, the average American was quite short.


I ended up dining at this place with a co-worker. I apologize that I wasn't able to take pictures of the building's exterior because by the time we were done with dinner, it had grown quite dark outside. So please refer to its website for pictures of the building.

Since it's a centuries' old town, walking "Ghost Tours" are also offered in the evenings led by tour guides dressed in period costumes. One of those Tour Guides is shown below:



For a Tour Guide, I found this one particularly weird and camera-shy. I observed that whenever people tried to include him in their shots, he almost always turned his back to them. Should I call the police? Hehehe Oh well....

Anyway, Alexandria is a very nice place to visit. Although it's classified as a city, huge sections of the city are quite peaceful and relaxing. The pace is a bit slower than other East Coast cities such as New York. Thus, whenever you're in the Washington, DC area, please find some time to stop by this city and enjoy some bit of living American history.