CLASS NOTES: Other Groups Who Benefited from MTV (History of Rock, 1970-Present)

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Notes on video lecture:

Other Groups Who Benefited from MTV

History of Rock, 1970-Present

John Covach, University of Rochester

Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on May 31, 2016 (go to class or lectures)

Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

woman, Unusual, Dolby, infectious, Bop, 1982, Madonna, Hoffs, male, Stewart, Bangles, ambivalent, careers, scream, Jackson, Seagulls, Carlisle, Birmingham, attention, Orzibal, synthesizer, Lennox, Kinky, videos, cows, British

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artists who had success in the early years of MTV

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"Second Invasion"

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because of the shortage of videos at the beginning of MTV, many groups benefited who may not have otherwise gotten much

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because they came from England and because it was part of their usual marketing to prepare a video, they had one available

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Bow Wow Wow

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Adam and the Ants

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A Flock of

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Howard Jones

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Thomas

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ABC

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Duran Duran

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from

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combined synthesizer with guitar-heavy New Wave

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music driven by dance beats

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Hungry Like a Wolf

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1984 The Reflex

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Culture Club

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gender

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was a guy dressed up like a

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but obviously so

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1982 Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

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1983 Karma Chameleon

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Eurythmics

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keyboard, synthesizer by Dave

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Annie

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came out of London

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combined

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synth-pop sound

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dance music that is very much dominated by sounds and a drum machine

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combined with

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soulful vocals by Annie Lennox

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like 60s and 70s soul

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deep, expressive

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wide ranging and interesting voice

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1983 Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

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had a video that juxtaposed a corporate board room with a farmer field with

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ambitious with the use of images and concepts

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1984 Here Comes the Rain Again

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Tears for Fears

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name influenced by primal therapy

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Roland

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Curt Smith

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serious tracks that had serious lyrics, complicated music, longer tracks

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1985 Songs from the Big Chair

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#1 in the US, #2 in the UK

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Everybody Wants to Rule the World

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Shout

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the American music business was gearing up and finding out that these could actually sell records

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girl groups

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dance-beat oriented New Wave groups in which the personnel is entirely women

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not just singing, playing drums and base

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The Go-Gos

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Belinda

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1981 Beauty and the Beat

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"We Got the Beat"

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were on tour opening for the Police

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it was awkward to be the opening band with a hit that was higher on the charts than the main band

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The

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Susanna on guitar and vocals

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"Different Light" (1986)

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"Manic Monday", #2 hit in UK and the United States

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written by "Christopher", a pen name for Prince

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"Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986)

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Cyndi Lauper

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out of Queens in New York City

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with Janet Jackson, one person who challenged

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1983 She's So

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before the Like a Virgin album that Madonna brought out

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"Girls Just Want to Have Fun"

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"Time After Time"

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"She "

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there had been a controversy around the Rolling Stones "I can't get no satisfaction"

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"All Through the Night"

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she was on MTV frequently

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1986 True Colors

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"True Colors"

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"Change of Heart"

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Boots

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Broadway Musical that Cyndi Lauper wrote all the music for

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was just as popular as Madonna in the early-80s

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Janet doesn't entered a little later

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the Go-Go's and the Bangels

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compared to past decades, many more all-women bands

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argument: when music became visual with MTV, women became more popular since the male audience would rather see a woman sing than a man

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but these women were taking control of their own music and

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aren't just the pawns or front-persons in -dominated businesses

Spelling Corrections:

personel ⇒ personnel

benefitted ⇒ benefited

Ideas and Concepts:

1980's flashback via tonight's History of Rock and Roll: "Because of the shortage of videos at the beginning of MTV in the early 1980s, many British groups benefited who may not have otherwise gotten much attention simply because they came from England and since it was part of their usual British marketing to prepare a video and so they had these videos available while American bands did not. Some British bands that benefited in this way included Bow Wow Wow, Adam and the Ants, A Flock of Seagulls, Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby, and ABC. Rock and Roll historians refer to this as the Second British Invasion into the American Rock and Roll scene after the first wave which was the number of New Wave bands that had entered the American rock and roll scene as palatable non-punk bands for the American market."

Painful memories of mega-successful 1980s bands in which the drummer looks like a librarian, via tonight's History of Rock and Roll class: "As British bands enjoyed early success on MTV in the early 80s because they generally had music videos ready to play, American bands were experimenting with other variants within the New Wave genre. For instance, girl groups were formed, i.e. dance-beat oriented New Wave groups in which the personnel was entirely women, not just the lead singer, but the drummer, the base player, everybody. The first such band of this kind to make it big were The Go-Gos out of Los Angeles led by Belinda Carlisle. They put out their debut album in 1981, "Beauty and the Beat" which ultimately sold 3 million copies, one of the most successful debut albums of all time. The hit song "We Got the Beat" spent three weeks at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 while they were on tour opening for the Police, Carlisle later noted that it was awkward to be the opening band with a hit that was higher on the charts than any of the songs from the band they were opening for."

1980s memories of beautiful women rocking out on stage, via tonight's History of Rock and Roll class: "The Bangles, 'Walk Like an Egyptian', I don't remember them being this good."

Why Madonna became more popular than Cyndi Lauper via tonight's History of Rock and Roll class:

"Other than Janet Jackson, if there was one female singer in the 1980s who challenged Madonna as sex symbol and shock artist, it was Cyndi Lauper. But the reason Madonna is a household name today whereas Cyndi Lauper is remembered mostly for a few 1980s hits is that Madonna was simply more business savvy and was aware of the need to continually reinvent herself, willing to exploit her sexuality to gain attention in much the same way Miley Cyrus is doing today and looking for markets to get attention on the American market, e.g. by courting religious controversy with her Like A Prayer video.

Cyndi Lauper, on the other hand, was more of a musician and wanted to make the music she wanted to make. Lauper was less controversial than Madonna, perhaps the most controversial part of her career was her song She Bop about masturbation. But in the end, Lauper was an artist. She stubbornly wanted to make the music she loved and fought with her label for creative control. Madonna, on the other hand, was a businesswoman who would follow whatever musical trends would sell.

Cyndi changed over time. She left her crazy, colorful image behind and started making personal music. This kind of music was less appealing to her younger fans and due to her earlier crazy pop girl image, she likely wasn't taken seriously by the kinds of people who would buy more serious music. But in this later stage, it is her voice that comes to the forefront, as in this acoustic performance of Change of Heart which shows a later Cyndi Lauper performing in a context one would hardly find Madonna interested in, and one might find it easy to also conclude that Cyndi outperforms Madonna in range and quality of voice."