You're browing the archives for the month of August 2010
Back in 1988, I videotaped the MTV year-end top-100 countdown. Back in 2008, I unearthed the tapes and started watching them for the first time in two decades. For the past two years, I’ve been working my way through the broadcast, dissecting every single video, ad break, and Kevin Seal smirk. We’re now five hours […]
posted 26 August 2010 in 1988. 4 comments
1. “She Loves You” (in “All You Need Is Love”) 2. “I Am the Walrus” (in “Glass Onion”) 3. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (in “I Am the Walrus”) 4. “Strawberry Fields Forever” (in “Glass Onion”) 5. “You Never Give Me Your Money” (in “Carry That Weight”)
posted 25 August 2010 in Tasty Bits. 3 comments
Since we’re halfway done with the countdown, it seemed like an opportune moment to update the demographics of the fifty videos played so far: United States: 30 England: 10 US/UK joint ventures: 4 Australia: 4 New Zealand: 1 Sweden: 1 White: 40 Black: 10 Male: 37 Female: 13 Solo acts: 31 Groups: 19 Number of […]
posted 17 August 2010 in 1988. 4 comments
While cleaning out my garage, I found an unexpected treasure: videotapes of the MTV year-end countdown for 1988, in its entirety. I’ve been working my way through the top 100, clip by clip, and have now reached the halfway point. The fifth hour: #51: Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” #52: INXS, “Never Tear Us […]
posted 16 August 2010 in 1988. no comments yet
(New to the countdown? Catch up here.) Rejoining our final Kevin Seal appearance, we find Seal promoting his hosting job on Big Bang ’89 later that night: “It’s time for me for me to go and start pushing my way through the huge crowds around Times Square. There’s only seven hours to go, you know–I […]
You may have heard that Wyclef Jean of the Fugees is running for president of Haiti. (Other musicians who have gone on to have political careers include Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil in Australia, Ruben Blades of Panama, and Dave Rowntree of Blur in the UK. Rowntree did not succeed in his run for Parliament; […]
posted 10 August 2010 in Archives, Articles. 2 comments
Concluding our two-photograph sequence of manhole covers. I often think manhole covers are beautiful; I should photograph them more often.
posted 6 August 2010 in Photos. no comments yet
The new Arcade Fire album, The Suburbs, is out today. If you’re looking to reacquaint yourself with the seven-person collective, you might want to read my feature article on the band from three years ago: months in the making, and spanning two continents (well, it was New York City and London, but still). No basketballs […]
posted 3 August 2010 in Archives, Articles. 2 comments
