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(New to the countdown? Catch up here.)
A scrap of paper isolated on a black screen has the single typed word “sexy.” It’s followed by two quick flashes of dancing bodies–a little bit of skin, and a whole lot of fringe.
Then we get a closeup on a light-skinned black woman, speaking with a British accent–why, that’s […]
posted 17 February 2010 in 1988. 5 comments
(New to the countdown? Catch up here.)
We head to a commercial break with a fifteen-second MTV bumper: lots of revved-up stock footage from the early twentieth century, superimposed over what appears to be flickering pages from textbooks. There’s a director with a megaphone, an old gramophone, men in hats operating film cameras, an orchestra conductor. […]
posted 2 December 2009 in 1988. no comments yet
A shockingly young Colin Quinn, lean of gut and fulsome in hair, is singing U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love).” On a clear day, from a sufficiently high vantage point, he might be able to spot the melody from where he’s standing. He interrupts himself: “Steve! Steve! You’re out of tune, buddy.”
Yes, this is […]
posted 21 October 2009 in 1988. 4 comments
Time to visit the Duke.
MTV replays their promo for “Michael Jackson Sunday”; as you might expect, it plays very differently now than it did a few months ago. “He’s been bad,” says the MTV Voiceover Guy. (A clip from “Bad” plays.) “He’s been smooth.” (A “Smooth Criminal” clip.) “Now he takes his own image head-on!” […]
posted 24 September 2009 in 1988. 3 comments
(If you’re new to the countdown, you can click here to catch up.)
We kick off this commercial break with the spot for MTV’s “Big Bang ’89″ broadcast that we’ve seen three times before. A lot of big hair among the featured acts: Poison, Winger, Daryl Hall, Escape Club, Vixen. But even at age 40, […]
If you’re new to the countdown: I’m plowing my way through actual videotapes of MTV’s year-end countdown broadcast on 12/31/1988. If you want to catch up from the beginning, you should probably start here.
On a plate, there’s a piece of white bread in the shape of an M. It’s soon covered with a dollop of […]
posted 11 February 2009 in 1988. no comments yet
Onward through the 1988 MTV countdown! (If you’re just joining us and want to get up to speed, click here.)
The commercial break, as usual, starts with a spot for an MTV program: in this case, “The Year in Rock 88.” “Sixty minutes that took twelve months to make,” says Voiceover Guy. We see Kurt Loder, […]
posted 7 January 2009 in 1988. 3 comments
We see the “Big Bang ’89” promo for the third time, with close-ups on explosions and spinning clocks building up excitement for the fact that 1989 will start in only a few hours, a transition that can be enjoyed in the company of Robert Plant, Poison, Winger, Cameo, Hall and Oates, the Escape Club, Bobby […]
A lonely bugle plays over an image of Jon Bon Jovi–who’s looking morose, with his left hand on his cheek. Maybe Jon’s run out of bottles, and hence no longer knows what day of the week it is.
“Bon Jovi on the road,” says the Voiceover Guy. “They play their guts out.” The image changes from […]
posted 7 October 2008 in 1988. no comments yet
An animated MTV promo: this one’s got African-style masks in a color palette of black, white, orange, and yellow–and lots of drumming and hollering on the soundtrack. It’s just ten seconds long, but if you nodded off during the Icehouse video, it wakes you up.
The “Bad to the Bone” riff announces another ad for Talk […]
posted 11 September 2008 in 1988. no comments yet
