Comments on: 1988 Countdown: Commercial Break #1 http://rulefortytwo.com/2008/05/15/1988-countdown-commercial-break-1/ The Self-Aggrandizing Website of Gavin Edwards Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:43:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: gavin http://rulefortytwo.com/2008/05/15/1988-countdown-commercial-break-1/#comment-22 gavin Fri, 16 May 2008 21:51:36 +0000 http://rulefortytwo.com/2008/05/15/1988-countdown-commercial-break-1/#comment-22 So was the progression punk new wave college rock modern rock alternative indie ? So was the progression

punk
new wave
college rock
modern rock
alternative
indie

?

]]> By: Chris M. http://rulefortytwo.com/2008/05/15/1988-countdown-commercial-break-1/#comment-16 Chris M. Thu, 15 May 2008 18:04:38 +0000 http://rulefortytwo.com/2008/05/15/1988-countdown-commercial-break-1/#comment-16 FWIW, 1988 was the year Billboard launched its Modern Rock chart. That name alone was something of a neologism -- as late as '87 or so my high-school friends and I were calling music of this Euroweenie/postpunk ilk "new wave" (don't laugh). But you are right that it was still too early for "alternative," hence Billboard (more likely, the industry/radio folk they survey/service) had to make up a term, hence "modern rock." Anyway, the reason I bring this up: the first No. 1 song on the chart when it launched in '88 was none other than "Peek-a-Boo" by Siouxsie. That song also scraped the midsection of the big pop chart, the Hot 100. Prior to this, I'm pretty sure no Siouxsie songs -- not even the Top 20 club hit "Cities in Dust" ('85) -- had ever graced a Billboard chart. So, to defend MTV in '88, S+Bs *were* "new" to the overwhelming majority of their audience and perceived as newbies on the radio. If I were programming/promoting MTV in '88, I'd have pushed Siouxsie as a hot new act, too, if only to help them along. FWIW, 1988 was the year Billboard launched its Modern Rock chart. That name alone was something of a neologism — as late as ‘87 or so my high-school friends and I were calling music of this Euroweenie/postpunk ilk “new wave” (don’t laugh). But you are right that it was still too early for “alternative,” hence Billboard (more likely, the industry/radio folk they survey/service) had to make up a term, hence “modern rock.”

Anyway, the reason I bring this up: the first No. 1 song on the chart when it launched in ‘88 was none other than “Peek-a-Boo” by Siouxsie. That song also scraped the midsection of the big pop chart, the Hot 100. Prior to this, I’m pretty sure no Siouxsie songs — not even the Top 20 club hit “Cities in Dust” (’85) — had ever graced a Billboard chart.

So, to defend MTV in ‘88, S+Bs *were* “new” to the overwhelming majority of their audience and perceived as newbies on the radio. If I were programming/promoting MTV in ‘88, I’d have pushed Siouxsie as a hot new act, too, if only to help them along.

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