The Chronic Curmudgeon

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October 26, 2005

The Chronic Curmudgeon Pop Culture Top 50: #13-#11

Sorry about the delay in getting the next items on the list up for you... I've been running around a bit for work and been a little bit busy the last few days. But, better late than never, right? So here we go.

13. "The Real World" premieres on MTV - 1992 The show itself was relatively unremarkable (quick, name me a cast member from the first season of "Real World New York."... I didn't think so.). But it had some incredible long term impact -- ushering in two huge new eras in pop culture. First of all, the Real World was the beginning of the end of MTV's format of actually being a music video network; the number of videos on MTV began a steep decline starting at about this time, and by the time we reached 2000, it was damn near impossible to find a video on MTV other than the same ten they ran during "TRL" every day.

More significantly, though, "The Real World" launched the era of reality television. And as insipid as I think reality television is, there's no denying that it has been the dominant genre, the defining element of television in the 2000s. Without "Real World," we couldn't be watching people stuff 25 live cockroaches into their mouths, pick their noses while living in a house with seven other people, deliberately trying to break up established couples, or marrying perfect strangers for a million dollars. Not precisely a proud legacy, but it's an established one just the same. "The Real World" both changed the face of television, and killed a once-beloved format on a once-beloved network; for those "accomplishments," it ranks as the #13 pop culture influence of the last 25 years.

12. Madonna performs "Like A Virgin" on the first MTV Video Awards -1984 I was 16, so at the time I thought this was about the most awesomest moment in TV history ever. Madonna, in her first incarnation as the Boy Toy, taking the stage to sing her new hit, "Like A Virgin" (which was on its way up the charts but hadn't yet reached #1)... coming out in a combination bustier and wedding dress, complete with her "Boy Toy" belt buckle. As she sang, she began rolling around on the stage, revealing her lacy stockings and garters... and proceeded to bump and grind her way through the rest of the song. By today's standards few would now even blink an eye; but 20 years ago, this was uncharted territory, something very new, very shocking, very sexual, very freaking hot. The then-controversial performance shot the single into the #1 slot for six weeks, and firmly established the sexual, Boy Toy Madonna persona into pop culture.

It was only a harbinger of things to come. Above all other things, Madonna was a shrewd businesswoman who knew how to market herself; the next two decades would bring incarnation after incarnation: each one wildly different than the last, some even more controversial than her first persona, always pushing boundaries and making her persona and off-stage antics and attitudes as important to her CD sales as her music was. For 20 years, she was the dominant female force in pop music, pretty much the dominant female force in pop culture... and that role for her was locked into place the night she writhed and grinded for MTV cameras in a wedding dress. Madonna's career, and the sheer sexiness of that performance, earn her the #12 spot in pop culture influences from 1980-2005.

11. Michael Jackson's moonwalk on the Motown 25th Anniversary special - 1983 It's sad now, knowing what a wacked out guy he really is, and after repeated accusations of pedophilia, to remember just what a great performer Michael Jackson used to be. His "Thriller" album was already out, with one #2 single (the duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine") already charted and his follow-up single "Billie Jean" racing up the charts and changing MTV. But in May 1983, CBS aired a special celebrating the 25th anniversary of Motown records. With all the luminaries and eventual Rock and Roll Hall of Famers who were present that night, Michael Jackson still stole the show. His performance of "Billie Jean" can only be described as "electric." The sequined jacket, the single glove, the matching hat... and the incredible dance moves that made him one of the towering figures of entertainment (and that would have kept him at the pinnacle had his pecadillos and eccentricities not cut him down). He owned the crowd from the moment he stepped on stage -- and it was clear by the time he reached the instrumental bridge in the middle of the song that this performance was already going down in history.

But then he broke out the moonwalk -- that seemingly effortless amazing sleight of foot that almost no one had ever seen before... and the crowd went delirious. Nothing was ever the same after that; Billie Jean went #1 for seven weeks and dominated MTV, Beat It only cemented his reputation further as the master of the new domain of music video, and by the time he got to the "Thriller" video, he was stratospheric. Michael Jackson in 1983-1984 was an entertainer at a level perhaps only reached by Elvis and the Beatles before him, and by few if any after him. If you weren't around back then, it's hard to believe or understand how crazy Michael-mania was... it didn't necessarily start with the Motown anniversary moonwalk, but that was the night that etched it in stone. No one who watched it will ever forget it, and it's the #11 pop culture moment on this list.

All we have left now is the top ten, kids. Think you know what they are?

Posted by Christopher on October 26, 2005 06:45 AM

Comments

Posted by: Corey at October 26, 2005 02:59 PM