You had to be there to really understand.
WTF. What happened to our big-ass screens? Now all we got is LCD smaller than my dobermans's ball bag. Do you remember listening to the wind-up of “I want my” repeating as if it was a signal from outer space heading towards us.? You know the song right?
Then we heard the drums before we felt the ground rumble. Those supersonic seismic sound waves had been racing towards the planet’s surface long before our heads were swimming in synthesized sounds coming out of a TV somewhere. Louder and louder, the drum beats got even louder.
The iconic intro features several synthesizers, most prominently the Synclavier for the sequenced melody and the Yamaha DX1 for the main keyboard sound. While it is not an electronic organ, the band also used a real Hammond B3 organ in their live setup and for certain parts on the album, though it was not the primary instrument for the intro sequence itself.
The Mid-80s: Big Screen Dreams, Music and TV.
Money for Nothing...
Everyone knew we would get big-ass TVs to watch music videos all day long in the very near future. And they would just get bigger, as the "geetah" intro riff ignited the age money for nothing and your chicks for free. Those lyrics and the main character of “Money for Nothing” were inspired by a real guy who worked in a hardware department in a television/custom kitchen/refrigerator/microwave appliance store.
The storyline sounds out through the lyrics as the point of view of two working-class men watching music videos and commenting on what they see, comes to life on-screen also featuring a guest appearance by Sting, who sings the signature falsetto introduction, background vocals and a backing chorus of "I want my MTV" set to the same notes as the chorus of the Police's hit "Don't Stand So Close To Me".
Quote by — Mark Knopfler, 1986 on how the lyrics to Money for Nothing came about.
“The guy is literally singing a song as he walked around the store helping customers. I wrote the song when I was actually in the store. I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real.”
The intro of the song and music video literally marked the beginning of a new age in popular culture globally. The song is considered one of most commercially successful singles ever, pre-internet, peaking at number one for three weeks on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Top Rock Tracks chart and number four in the band's native UK. At the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986, it won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year as well.
At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video received 11 nominations, winning Video of the Year and Best Group Video. The video, recognized as the first audio-visual production to use computer-animated human characters, aired on MTV Europe to launch the network on August 1, 1987.
The "Music Video"; a short visual production to compliment and complete each hit song, would now be the norm.
How it felt to be there...
You had to be there to really understand. It is so hard to convey how big a deal MTV was back in the day. No YouTube, no internet. Mostly just broadcast television and maybe some music videos playing late at night. To turn on the television and watch a music video anytime you wanted was mind blowing.
Real music made by musicians with real instruments, recorded in real studios live. Lyrics had meaning and came from something and the music was about something. Then Music Videos were born, real reel and digital mix-inclusive visual productions to compliment hit songs and the story the song was about. From 1987, MV after MV aired 24 hours a day to the original listener audience nations and beyond.
This Drop is a compilation of information taken from Wikipedia, edited for clarification and correction, the author's own experience, as well as ideas published by American Songwriter, Far Out Magazine. Contact us if you have any copyright issues. All sources listed.
Watch the Music Video that started it all... Open YouTube and search "Dire Straits Money for Nothing Official" Hit play and turn it up LOUD
