The Boomtown Rats had been around since '77, and by the time I was in high school had seen only minor success in the United States. I had actually seen them on the Mike Douglas show when I was... what? 13? I'm not sure, but they were the coolest band I'd seen since the Monkees, tell you what, and as soon as I'd saved two months worth of allowance I rode to the Record Factory and bought The Fine Art of Surfacing.
I've never been a fan of Michael Jackson's music, which made for almost non-stop misery in '83. Thriller came out that year, and Michael reinvented the music video... in the process ruining one of the last high school dances I ever attended. It was a "video dance." The AV geeks set up a projection TV at one end of the gym and everyone danced awkwardly to Billy Idol video after Billy Idol video... 'till Thriller came on... and all the girls raced to Michael's end of the gym and squealed and screamed while he mugged, transformed and inevitably shambled into their PYT hearts. I walked out about the time the zombies started moonwalking... and you know, I still don't know how this video ends.
Elvis. What can I say? Before I knew of him, I wanted to write like him. After I saw the video for Pump It Up I wanted to be him... I'd still be happy to just write like him, though.
If I stopped going to dances after the "Video Dance" I stopped dancing after seeing Rock Me Tonight on Friday Night Videos. I just know some of this rubbed off... it's really not worth the risk.
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