You're browsing all posts tagged The January Man
(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
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: 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
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
The commercial break kicks off with another airing of the “Big Bang ’89″ promo, hyping the big show live later on MTV that night. Sandra Bernhard looks skinny and sexy and mean (in marked contrast to her subdued, puffy appearance on Project Runway recently–is she on some variety of steroid medications, or was it a […]
posted 12 August 2008 in 1988. no comments yet
“Time to visit the Duke,” former Sex Pistol Steve Jones often says on his (excellent) Los Angeles radio show when heading into a commercial break. I had been listening for months before any guest asked him what “the Duke” meant; I had assumed it was a euphemism for the bathroom, but it turns out Jones […]
posted 15 July 2008 in 1988. 4 comments
The break starts with another excellent animated MTV promo. (Whoever was in charge of these must have been having a blast.) This one stars marionettes in a drawing room that appears to be inspired by Marie Antoinette. The sexiest marionette, with a drink in hand and red pants so tight they look like they were […]
posted 24 June 2008 in 1988. 4 comments
And we go to a commercial break!
First, there’s an MTV promo touting their dedication to new music. “Every major band was a new name at one time,” says a bass voice (moderately portentous, but without enough presence to get movie-trailer work). Then they flash the names of these brand-new bands that they’re backing with the […]
posted 15 May 2008 in 1988. 2 comments
