OK- PLUG IN YOUR HEAD PHONES.

Music Videos—Lost art? Not so if you're online...

Those of us that grew up during the "I want my MTV" boom ( Dire Strait's Money for Nothing video ) will often be heard bitching and moaning about the days when MTV (and VH1 for that matter) "actually played music". The days when VJs (video jockeys) like Downtown Julie Brown, the other Julie Brown, Martha Quinn, Kurt Loder and John Norris guided our eyes and ears through this brand new world of music videos. Cliché as it is, as ancient as I sound, I miss the old days.

I had MTV on constantly. I loved it. From like second grade on. No joke. I was obsessed with Cyndi Lauper, I loved Peter Gabriel videos, I swayed and sang at the top of my lungs every single time We Are the World came on (AND began learning about poverty in Africa!). Eyes are watering and chills are plaguing me just linking you to that video!

A little further on into the '80s, I stumbled upon 120 Minutes, hosted by Dave Kendall and that just sealed the deal. MTV was just about everything to me. I learned to program the family VCR, I taped that Sunday night show religiously. On holiday weekends and summer Sundays I stayed up to watch 120 Minutes when it actually aired. Dave Kendall with his sexy British accent, hosting two full hours of New Wave, post punk, eclectic videos (many of which were done by Anton Corbijn. Don't know him? Look him up. The list of videos he's made will astound you) and interviewing bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, artists like Robert Smith of The Cure. Was insanely awesome.

Music TeleVision shaped me. In every way. And throughout the '90s and '00s, watching it veer further and further away from actually airing music videos was like watching a dear friend die a slow death. For a good while there I got the impression that bands were no longer making music videos (I've got basic cable, if there are music video playing channels out there, I'm oblivious), I mean, why should they? It's a lot of work and money and time to not get much air, right?

But they are. Anton's even still making a lot of them. And where there's a will... you'll find them. And they're good. Technology's gotten A LOT better since the early and mid '80s. Those of you that hold that oh so special status of a "facebook" or "myspace" friend of mine know, I'm posting links to videos on a semi-regular basis. I want you to see them. I want them to get play. I want to experience that extra facet of my favorite bands' creativity.

I'll climb down off my soap box now, quit with my long winded nostalgia and link you to

a couple videos I'm digging lately. Watch them at your leisure, but do watch them. Let yourself get lost in their artistry. That's what it was like back then, every time I was lucky enough to witness a "World Premiere Video" on MTV in the golden days. Before 16 and Pregnant.

PURE BLOODY BRILLIANCE: Skeleton Boy by Friend Fires. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. WATCH THE WHOLE THING!!!

DO YOU SEE HOW MUSIC VIDEOS CAN SHAPE YOUR FASHION SENSE?! KILLER SONG, AMAZING GET-UP ON KAREN O.: Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

THIS ONE'S DARLING & DELIGHTFUL. ALREADY HAD GREAT AFFECTION FOR THE SONG, THEN I SAW & FELL HEAD OVER HEELS FOR THE VIDEO: Strawberry Swing by Coldplay.

AND THIS ONE, ALMOST AS NEW TO ME AS IT WILL BE TO YOU, I TOTALLY APPRECIATE THE '80s FEEL I MUST CONFESS, WAR TAPES IS GETTING PLAY MORE AND MORE ON SIRIUS/XM AND FILTER FEATURED THIS VIDEO BACK IN JUNE:

Dreaming of You by War Tapes. It's not love, but I dig.

Thank GOD for http://www.youtube.com

So, love a song? Do a search, it's quite possible it has a music video. And don't forget tomorrow's Tuesday. The day of the week new albums usually come out AND when you can download the FREE Single of the Week, Discovery Download & MUSIC VIDEO on itunes.

What i'm drinking: a 2004 bottle of RED, from St. Francis, Sonoma County.

Love,

Sunlovey