I doubt there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know this horrific song, but just in case: That terror you just witnessed was “The Macarena”. And believe it or not, there was a time that it was ALMOST considered cool. It makes me gag a bit just thinking about it. So of course I have to write about it.
It was the mid 90s, and for some reason it was all trendy to listen to stuff like “Jock Jams” and really bad dance songs. The Macarena took this trend and ran with it. I mean, it went all the way in the video with all the terrible fashion don’ts and that ungodly dance. Oh! Okay – I’m gonna stick my arms out in front of me like i’m about to squat and take a crap, and then i’ll put my hands on my hips and gyrate for a while. That’s an AWESOME dance! .…Said no one. Ever.
And the song itself was also just bad. I don’t even know what they’re fucking saying, and I don’t really care to know. The song sucks.
So there! You have beheld my wrath towards The Macarena. Now I want to hear from you guys… Your thoughts on The Macarena. Did you love it? Hate it? Indifferent? Was anyone else like me where they felt like their ears bled with each playback of this song? Leave your comments below, please! DISCUSS!
Today, I am revisiting the MTV of yesteryear… Founded in 1981; MTV delivered quality music videos to households lucky enough to have cable television, and sense enough to know the best stuff to watch.
This was not your preteens’-of-the-2010s MTV… No, not by far. This was QUALITY programming. Keep in mind there was no YouTube, no Google… Hell, there weren’t even real computers in 99.9% of households.
This is where entertainment could be found. And true entertainment it was for sure.
You could see all your favorite artists here – VISUALLY – in creatively constructed videos made to accompany the music.
I’m sounding pretty archaic explaining this – but seriously -this was new stuff back then. Sure, we’d seen music artists perform live on TV, but not like this. Music videos existed, but weren’t widely shown. When MTV had aired for the first time, few had seen the actual music video of The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star”.
Their choice for a premiere video was pretty appropriate too. They were making a big change in the world by letting the public SEE their favorite music artists on a regular basis rather than just HEAR them. Get it? VIDEO killed RADIO? Yeah… That’s a good boy/girl…
Enough with the history though…
WTF has happened to MTV? It can’t even be respectably called “MTV” anymore… Music Television? I think not. Occasionally I tune in hoping to find something good, but mainly all I see is “16 and pregnant” and “my super sweet sixteen”… Spoiled brats doing whatever the hell they want with no regard for anyone else but themselves and their feral needs to shop, have sex, and feel entitled.
What happened to the MUSIC VIDEOS? And, no – the occasional Justin Bieber or Rhianna videos DO NOT COUNT.
I lived for seeing Nirvana, Metallica, Alice in Chains, Third Eye Blind, Tool… Hell, even Sir Mix-A-Lot and Puff Daddy were entertaining to watch. There were shows between the music, but they weren’t watered-down soaps starring “regular people” that only offered entertainment value through train-wreck-reminiscent-horror…
Beavis and Butthead (depicted above), Daria, The Real World, and Road Rules… Those were good shows. They didn’t make you dread and fear the future of society. They gave you respect and great laughs while you watched those who were intelligent and ballsy enough to say “EFF IT!” in ways OTHER THAN getting knocked up before legal age.
I want my MTV.
I want entertainment free of trashy reality shows and other pointless drivel.
All I can say is, thank the higher powers for Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube. May genuine entertainment live on, and may our music cease the downward spiral into shit.
PLUTONIUM POWER! 