Raised on MTV, part 2
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I wanted to squeeze this in before midnight here, since it fits, but also because it's a great song.This was another video that got a lot of play in my early days of watching MTV. So much, in fact, that I lost the love for the song for a while, and had to leave it alone and revisit it later. MTV was unfortunately quite good at that back then; see dachmo's post on The Tubes for my take on "She's A Beauty".Having given this song some space, I see why I was so attracted to it, and how it changed how I reacted to music. Richard Butler's voice isn't very musical, but it's gravelly and utterly charming in its own special way. The music, even with xylophone in tow, felt smoky and dusty, far removed from the neon Day-Glo of Duran Duran. What it had, though, was atmosphere in spades, so I learned to appreciate that atmosphere. I love how the drums get almost tribal toward the end, that constant thump-thump-thump getting cut through by that creepy-sounding synth. Total bliss.And check these bon mots: "So swallow all your tears, my love/And put on your new face/You can never win or lose if/you don't run the race." Razor-sharp.Of course, it also sent me looking for their back catalogue.(Don't even get me started on the abomination that is the version of "Pretty In Pink" that came on the movie soundtrack. Egregiously bad.)In fact, I think I'll finish the night by listening to All Of This And Nothing, their 1988 compilation.And in case you were wondering, "+here's lucy's part 2 pick+":http://dreamsgavemeaway.blogspot.com/2007/10/when-all-this-gets-old-will-it-still.html
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