“A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”, said Gertrude Stein. What she meant was how the word rose used by various poets in different context evokes similar emotions in the reader.  The song “Turn the Page” proves how it is so in music. The song was originally written by Bob Seger for his 1973 album Back ’72 and its lyrics make it pretty much clear what the song is about. Bob Seger originally intended to show the ups and downs of an artist while he is on the road. However, the song has been covered by many artists after that and many of them have given the song a different interpretation. Nevertheless, almost all versions evoke similar emotions in the heart of the listener despite the music. So while Metallica’s video shows the song to be about the life of a stripper and Waylon Jennings version covered this song after he came over his drug problem, the song always educes sorrow.

Bob Seger released the song in 1973 but it never made it to the charts. However, the song also featured on his 1976 Live Bullet album and then it started receiving significant airtime on radio stations. I have also heard this song a lot of times in pubs in India that play rock music. The song begins with a Saxophone piece played by Alto Reed followed by shimmering cymbals. The entire song is quite minimal yet expressive on the instruments for a rock song. What make this song popular even today are its powerful lyrics and their structure. The song follows a very odd rhyme scheme and the patterns repeat quite oddly in its chorus paragraph. In totality however, the lyrics and the music make you empathise with the trials of an artist.

In their 1988 cover album Garage Inc., Metallica released a cover of this song which is probably more popular than the original song. As against Seger’s version, Metallica’s rendition is very strong on the instruments. In this version, the saxophone of Alto Reed is replaced by a slide guitar played by Kirk Hammett. The amplitude of the song never reduces except for the verse “Later in the evening..” which creates a brilliant effect because “the echoes of the amplifier are ringing in your head”. This is then followed by a guitar solo by Hammett. The video of the song is about the life of the stripper (played by Ginger Lynn Allen) who also works as a prostitute at the same time raising a child. The video has been brilliantly directed by Jonas Akerlund.

Both versions of the song are great in their own ways. A number of other artists such as Kid Rock and Staind have also covered the song. Notably Waylon Jennings has covered the song in an album by the same name when he was recovered from his drug problem.

With the year getting to an end, we hope that the New Year will bring a new and exciting page in your life. Wishing you a very happy and musical new year we leave you with a few videos of the song. Enjoy!

The word Rai in Arabic has many literal translations like “opinion”, “my way”, “tell it like it is” etc. Rai is also the name of a popular genre of world music which originated in Algeria in the 1920s, having its roots in Arabic love poetry and Bedouin folk music, and drawing influences from Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms. As its Arabic meanings implied, Rai music was indeed a way of Arab youngsters of the time to express their views on alienation, poverty, drug abuse and sexual desires, many things considered taboo by Islamic beliefs. Rai music however took a long time to spread to the rest of the world, and the artist who was instrumental in taking Rai music outside the Arab precincts was Khaled. Khaled made it big on the international scene with his 1992 self titled album which contained his legendary song Didi. And in 1996 Khaled followed up his success with an even bigger hit, which was the love song Aicha.

The song was written originally in French by singer-songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. The original French single however was never released in an album, though Khaled’s 1996 album Sahra featured a bilingual version of the song, sung both in French and Arabic. The Arabic lyrics were penned by Khaled himself. Like other Rai singers, Khaled was also known for his socially progressive themes in his songs and videos, something that didn’t earn him a lot of buddies on the conventional Islam side. In fact threat to his life forced Khaled to move to Paris in late 80s. Even in case of Aicha, the lyrics imply equal rights for woman and man, which represent true love, the words in Aicha’s reply to the man who woos her like “A cage is a cage, even if it’s made of gold” suggestive of the fact.

Aicha bears about it all the charm and romance of a pop ballad, hooking you onto it from the word go. The refrain played on guitar, and the ambient effect created by the synth make a mesmerizing combo. Add to that Khaled’s inimitable rendition and some eastern percussion and the song becomes absolutely irresistible. If I have heard anyone do an equally commendable job on covering the song, it would be the Danish hip hop band Outlandish. The band recorded an English version of the song for their album Bread & Barrels of Water. Outlandish did a complete revamp of the instrumentation keeping just the tune intact, and did a fantastic job of it, maintaining the haunting effect, though in an Outlandish way. The cover versions of Aicha have come from varied genres which widened the ambit of music lovers who were smitted by Aicha. Apart from Outlandish, other notable covers include a salsa variant by Senegalese band Africando, and a very entertaining a cappella version by Pennsylvania-based Hindi a cappella group called Penn Masala. The Penn Masala version though is more a cover of Outlandish’s Aicha than of the original, with some Hindi lyrics thrown in nevertheless.

Today is a time when World Music has grown to become a part of mainstream music itself, rather than being restricted to certain elite sections of the musical audience. The trend has also had its impact on Rai music, increasing its acceptance factor on the international front, some artists even using rai to send positive messages post 9/11. Khaled still continues to bring out albums, the latest one being Liberte. But none have so far managed to enrapture the audience worldwide on a scale like Aicha or Didi did. Being a fan of Rai music and specifically of Khaled, I hope that the “King of Rai” spins out another such magical composition, soon enough.




Live version by Khaled, Rachid Taha and Faudel (Courtesy: Adriana)

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…..

This Dickensian quote did go well with the times of the French Revolution. Another period that would fit the description perfectly would be the 60s, also called the swinging sixties. The sixties were turbulent times. It was the times when people started questioning the conservative approach in politics and the social repression measures used by the authorities. The sixties were the time of the counterculture movement which emphasized on the freedom of expression and diversion from rigid social rules. It was also the time when there were lots of political movements like Anti War movement, Civil Rights movement and much more evolved. Musicians and music also prospered in the sixties with 4 young musicians from Liverpool paving the way.

The Sunset Strip in California was also witnessing the new wave of music in a big way. Musicians and performers used to hang around in night clubs like The Troubadour, Whisky a Go Go, Roxy, Pandora’s Box and the London Fog which were like a haven for musicians and hippies alike. The Sunset Strip was also the main centre for counterculture movements. It was November 12, 1966 when numerous youthful demonstrators erupted in protest against the perceived repressive enforcement of a few curfew laws at the Sunset Strip. It was because of the forceful closing down of the club at the corner of Sunset Strip named Pandora’s Box. This was known as the Sunset Strip Riots, also known as hippie riots. It is also the main inspiration behind the political song For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield, a band comprising of Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin, Jim Messina,  Bruce Palmer, Richie Furay and Neil Young.

The instrumentation which comprises of the electric guitar plays two notes repeatedly with tremolo, the acoustic guitar strumming and the quiet pulse like beat on the drums along with the laid-back vocals gives a mildly creepy feel to the song which bears about it an overall mood of regret. It’s the lyrics of the song penned by Stephen Stills that stand out nevertheless. “There’s somethin’ happenin’ here what it is ain’t exactly clear” was the popular line in 60’s counterculture. The repressive measures are highlighted by the clever use of verses like “There’s a man with a gun, over there Tellin’ me I got to beware”, “Young people speakin’ their minds Gettin’ so much resistance from behind” and “Step out of line, the man come and take you away”. The repeated use of the lines “Stop, hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look – what’s goin’ down?” is like a wakeup call to the generation of the 60s. (It is still good enough to serve as a wakeup call to our generation and those to come.) The standout line for me in the whole song has to be “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong”. (Still makes me think or must I say Stills makes me think!)

The beauty of this song is that it manages to warn of increasing polarization and violence in American society of the sixties, without taking any political stand other than that of acceptance of diversity and free speech. This song has been hailed as an antiwar song since it was written during the time Cold war was raging, and at times is mentioned as written based on the Kent state shootings which happened much later during the start of 70s. It does give us a feel that Stills possessed powers of prophecy just like Nostradamus did.

Led Zeppelin covered the song during Communication Breakdown medley, at their famous Live on Blueberry Hill concert. Another notable cover of the song would be the one by CSNY which had Stills accompanying himself on piano, and with vocals that are positively histrionic. The February 13, 1978 episode of The Muppet Show re-writes the song with animals singing slightly altered anti-hunting lyrics. The musical interlude was filled with hunters wildly shooting their guns while animals hide. In 1998 the group Public Enemy released He Got Game, a rap song that sampled lyrics and music directly from For What It’s Worth. This song deserves special mention because Stephen Stills appears and performs in the music video for this song.

Buffalo Springfield was a short-lived folk rock group that served as an excellent launchpad for the likes of Neil Young, Stephen Stills and others who went on to have awesome music careers. For what it’s worth is one song which made sure that the Buffalo Springfield legacy stays on. The song is a classic retort to those who argue that rock is just being loud, aggressive and violent. Rock may be all that, but it is much more than loudness and aggression and violence. It is also about standing up for a cause. And this song is an example, a great one at that.

Article written by Easwar.

A few days back, Anirudh wrote about the Dire Straits hit Money For Nothing in this column. The ending phrase by Anirudh “Although good music still continued to be produced, how good MTV truly was for music will always remain a question” did make me think. What also made me think was the fact that “Knopfler was not very enthusiastic about making a video for the song as he believed it destroys the purity of the writers and performers”. And all those thoughts did hook me up with the song called Video Killed The Radio Star by the New Wave Band called The Buggles, the first video to be aired on MTV.

The Buggles was a band formed by the trio of Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. The origin of the name Buggles has two stories. It is believed that it was intended to be a pun on The Beatles. Another thread is that Horn wanted the most disgusting name he could ever think of at that time and he narrowed down on The Buggles. The Buggles is a one-hit wonder, the hit being Video Killed The Radio Star.

The Buggles mainly consisted of the tandem of Geoffrey Downes on percussion/keyboards and Trevor Horn doing bass/guitar/percussion/vocals. Woolley left the band shortly, although he is credited for the song Video Killed the Radio Star. Woolley’s contribution was mostly musical, although he did come up with the words “put the blame on VTR”. As per Trever Horn the inspiration for the lyrics was mainly the short story The Sound-Sweep by J. G. Ballard, in which the title character, a mute boy vacuuming up stray music in a world without it, comes upon an opera singer hiding in a sewer.

Video Killed the Radio Star is an electronic pop marvel. The lyrics are quite intelligent. They tell the story of a singer whose career is cut short by the T.V. The synthesizers and computers used for the song never overpower Trevor Horn’s amazing vocals, and Geoffrey Downes’s musicianship. Debi Doss and Linda Jardim are the female backing vocalists.

The first version of the song was recorded by Woolley & the Camera Club. The Buggles released this song as a single. They also released it along with their first Album, The Age of Plastic where it has an additional piano coda. There have been about a dozen covers of the song, but most of them have been a low key affair. One prominent cover is the one by alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America for The Wedding Singer soundtrack. Less than a month ago Horn performed the song with Robbie Williams at the BBC Electric Proms.

There is another reason why Indian music lovers will instantly connect to this song. Just about a year after Video Killed.. made its famous appearance on MTV came the movie that established the cult status of Mithun Chakraborty, Disco Dancer. The movie was especially famous for its songs, composed by Mr. “Mobile Gold Souk” Bappi Lahiri, widely acclaimed as pioneer of disco music in India, but also one of the pioneers of large scale note-for-note plagiarism from the West. And in Disco Dancer he happened to compose a song called Koi Yahaan Naache sung by Usha Uthup and himself, which had its Auwa Auwa hook and most of the mukhda ripped straight off Video Killed.. Nevertheless he showed good taste in his lift, the song turning out a classic, one of the most remembered songs of Usha Uthup.

Video Killed.. was aired on MTV on Aug. 1, 1981. MTV once again honoured the song by making it the millionth song to be aired on MTV on February 27, 2000. Sadly, today MTV has evolved (!) from a music channel to a melee of reality shows and fictional programs. Let’s just assume (hope) that MTV will play this song again as their two millionth video. If the two millionth song happens that is. Looking at the way things are going, it looks to be a distant possibility.

Co-written by Easwar and Vipin.

In the year 2000, Volkswagen aired an advertisement on TV having a song called Pink Moon as its background score. Within a month after this ad was aired, the artist of the album sold more records than he had in the previous thirty years. The artist was Nick Drake and sadly he did not live long enough to enjoy this success.

Nick Drake was one of those obscure artists who hardly enjoyed any success during his lifetime but became quite a respectable figure posthumously. In his short career of around five years he released three albums none of which sold more than 5000 copies. Pink Moon was his third and last album and the entire album was recorded in 2 sessions of 2 hours each. All songs in the album Pink Moon are unembellished unlike his previous album. The entire album runs for only 28 minutes with 11 songs on it. Throughout his life Drake had suffered with depression and insomnia and the music and the effects of these can be very clearly seen in his last album. By 1972, he had retreated so much into his own world that it is difficult to interpret what the lyrics mean and sadly now there is no way to find out. Most of the songs had lyrics more than a verse or two. However, his depression and aloofness strikes though every word of the songs.

The title song of the album just like all others was recorded with just an acoustic guitar and Drake dubbed some piano on it later on. The lyrics of the song composed of just two verses of speak about a Pink Moon that is coming to get us all indicating a sense of pessimism and helplessness of Drake. However, this album which is probably his best work sold fewer copies than any of other works.

It is quite strange that for an artist who despised commercialism, success came in the form of a Volkswagen ad. Nevertheless, we can only hope that such artists whose music was probably far ahead of his time will be appreciated at least now.

The other day Vipin and I were discussing about how we have been writing about too many rock songs under this section and thus making this section quite monotonous. And when I was watching an episode “That ‘70s Show”, one of my favourite TV shows Gloria Gaynor made a special appearance in that episode with the disco hit “I Will Survive”, I thought that this could be a perfect song to write about as disco and rock have often been considered diametrically opposite musical styles. I guess that most of you, like me, are not a big fan of the disco genre of music. Heck, the song was even listed at #9 on George Carlin’s list of “10 Most Embarrassing Songs of All Time”. However, when a song becomes as popular as this one, it is bound to show up in other musical genres as well as popular cultures and cannot be ignored and while researching on the song I found that some of my favourite bands such as Cake and R.E.M. have also covered it.

The original song performed by Gloria Gaynor was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. The lyrics of the song are about a woman trying to get over her breakup. No wonder that it has been used for female empowerment and other awareness campaigns. The song sounds nice for the first 25 seconds with a decent arrangement of piano, percussion and bass with the bluesy voice of Gloria. However, the moment the disco beats set in. As disco has been often accused, the beats leave a little scope for variation in the music and hence it becomes repetitive. Nevertheless, the song has made it to Rolling Stones magazines “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

So for people who do not appreciate the original version, I recommend the cover version by the alternative rock band Cake. Although not nearly as good as there other songs such as “Comfort Eagle” or “Short Skirt, Long Jacket”, it has definitely got a funky bass-line and some decent guitar solos. Plus, the use of brass instrument towards the end adds a jazzy edge to the song. R.E.M., another alternative rock band, has also given an acoustic rendering of the song. Done in a simple style with acoustic guitars and some synthesizers in the background, the song does not come out nearly as nice as the version by Cake.

If you are thinking that I am biased towards rock music, cheer up! Watch this amazing comical version of the song by “Igudesman & Joo”. Besides these there are a lot of other covers of the song and it has been used extensively in other media as well as is evident from its wiki page. However, to keep this article short, I will sign off here with the words of Cake frontman John McCrea,“It is only right to leave you with a little bit of false hope!”

Gloria Gaynor performing live

Cake’s Version of the song

R.E.M’s Version

Igudesman & Joo

“If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.”

Well, the quote above belongs to none other than John Lennon. Chuck Berry is one of those legends we should never miss out when we talk about Rock ‘n’ Roll music. A stalwart in the rock and roll music, he has been highly influential in the nurturing of the rock and roll guitar techniques. Chuck Berry was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One song of Chuck Berry which testifies his legendary status would be Johnny B. Goode.

The song is basically about a young boy from Louisiana who becomes famous owing to his guitar-playing skills. The song can be called autobiographical considering the fact that Chuck Berry himself had a middle class upbringing  and he also like Johnny B. Good could play the guitar just like a ringin’ a bell. Also the fact that Berry was born on Goode Avenue in St. Louis adds credence to this argument. But its also believed that the inspiration of the song is Johnnie Johnson, the pianist who played alongside of Chuck Berry. It is said that Johnnie Johnson’s drinking issues made Chuck Berry write the lines “Johnny Be Good“. Much later, in a November of 2000, Johnnie Johnson sued Chuck Berry claiming that he co-authored about a dozen songs of Berry, and demanding credits and royalty for the same.

Johnny B Goode opens with a guitar riff which is the most famous guitar riff in rock and roll history. It is essentially a note-for-note copy of the opening single-note solo on Louis Jordan’s Ain’t That Just Like a Woman, played by guitarist Carl Hogan.  

Johnny B Goode is a gem of a song which leads us to appreciate the guitar play/ art of the genius Chuck Berry. Typical of the rock n roll songs of the time, it is a very fast rhythmic song with the vocals handled by Berry himself, accompanied on the piano by Lafayette Leake, a blues and jazz musician. The song was a defining musical turnaround in the life of Chuck Berry and he went on to use and reuse Johnny in two more of his subsequent compositions, Bye Bye Johnny and Go Go Go. The song is the rock and roll embodiment of the American Dream.

I think we can classify musicians into three categories, those who have covered Johnny B. Goode ,  those who haven’t covered Johnny B. Goode and the third being Chuck Berry. Numerous musicians have covered Johnny B. Goode that picking a few artists from among those talented musicians would be a hard endeavour. So sit back, relax, listen to the few versions of the song we have given below and B Good!

This article comes from our regular guest columnist Easwar. If you wish to contribute to this section or to any other section of Music Aloud please do drop a mail to response [at] musicaloud [dot] com.





Cover by Judas Priest (Courtesy Arun A S)

An omnipresent feature of the ’60s and early ’70s pop radio was the sophisticated, often elegant, pop of the legendary American songwriting team of composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Their music was seen as a throwback to a prerock era of popular song, flourishing during a musical landscape of British invasion, psychedelia and folk rock. Having been introduced to each other at the Brill Building in NY city in 1957, the duo went on to have a prolific 15 years, the unconventionality of Bacharach’s melodies forming a perfect fit for the eloquent romanticism of Hal David’s poetic lyrics. And in 1969, as part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, was born the song that got the duo their only Oscar (as a duo this was their only Oscar. However Bacharach also won a second Oscar for his movie score for the same movie, and in 1981 won a third for the movie Arthur) – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.

The story goes that the title of the song came to Bacharach’s mind the instant he saw the bicycle scene in the movie and kept recurring whenever he saw it. Hal David tried changing the lyric to something else but it never seemed to work, and hence they fixed on Raindrops.. The pair wrote the song with Ray Stevens in mind, but he didn’t like the song and declined to sing it. Bob Dylan was also reportedly approached to sing the song but he too turned down the offer. It was around the same time that American singer B J Thomas was creating waves with his single Hooked on A Feeling (famous for its featuring of an electric sitar). Dionne Warwick, a singer who had had many successful partnerships with Bacharach-David, recommended Thomas to the duo and they chose Thomas to render Raindrops.. Apparently Thomas was getting over laryngitis when he recorded the song, giving the song a raspy quality which was instantly liked by the producers of the movie. Later on Thomas came out with a single version of the song, and by 1970 it was on top of the charts, the first #1 single of the 1970s.

One of the most prominent bands to cover Raindrops.. was the Rat Pack. Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers perform the song at each of their live concerts. The band even recorded a version inclusive of a trumpet solo by their drummer Sean Moore. Dionne Warwick collaborated with Kelis for her 2006 duets album version of the song. There have been numerous other covers of the song which we restrain ourselves from talking about. The song has also made appearances in various films, the most famous one being in Forrest Gump. Leslie Nielsen does a parody of the whole scene, complete with the song in the background, in his 1996 movie Spy Hard. The song also made its appearance in Spiderman 2.

David once described his lyrical technique as, “I search for believability, simplicity and emotional impact.” And Raindrops.. is an embodiment of this statement. And his combo with Bucharach, a classic case of lyricist and composer coming together in perfect synergy, shall ever be remembered for this work of theirs. So whenever you feel a bit down, we recommend you listen to this song. We guarantee that it will have you back in your elements in no time! Au revoir..

There once was a boy from Bronx.  When he was 14 (that was in 1964), he got inspired by The Beatles and decided to pursue a musical career. So he started playing the piano and very soon was playing in recording sessions for some unknown bands in and around New York. In 1971, he got his first solo album called “Cold Spring Harbor” released. But due to an error by the recording company, the boys voice sounded a semitone too high than it was supposed to and the album tanked on the charts. The guy’s heart was crushed and unable to get a commercial success with his album, he started playing under the pseudonym “Bill Martin” in The Executive Room, a bar in Los Angeles.

A couple of years later, he got an opportunity to record another studio album and he made a song about his experiences in the bar in Los Angeles. The song spoke about an old man who was a regular at the bar and John who worked at the bar whom he had had befriended. The song gave the man the man so much success that since the release of this single he has become the sixth best-selling recording artist in the United States and the single itself is the most downloaded single off the iTunes store. The man of course was Billy Joel and the single released in 1973 is his signature song “Piano Man”.

What makes the Piano Man such a great song is the brilliant arrangement of instruments. A delightful arrangement of instruments like piano, harmonica, drums, bass and mandolin accompanying the melodic voice of Billy Joel add to the beauty of the song but what makes the song such a legend is the contrast between its music and lyrics. While the music of the song is cheerfully played on a jazzy piano line in the C major key (from the bits of music I know of the major chords is usually played for happy songs while minor chords accompany sad ones. People who know more about music theory may disagree), there is a melancholy in the lyrics of the song that would disturb you creating waves of emotions in your heart.

The song has not been covered by any major brands because it is hard to categorize it as a rock song. The essence of the song lies in all the instruments it uses and hardly any rock band goes around carrying so many instruments. Wierd Al’s parody of Spiderman based on the music of “Piano Man” is hilarious. Also worth watching is the Flight of the Conchord’s song Bret’s day. Although these are not exactly “cover” versions of Piano Man, it gives you an idea of the popularity of the song.

As usual we leave you at this point with a few videos to enjoy. We will be back soon with another exquisite song. Enjoy!

Weird Al Yankovic – Ode To A Superhero

Flight of the Conchords :: Bret’s Day

The 1980s marked a shift in a generation of music from the classic rock of 70s to the pop music that would rule the charts for the coming decades. If there is one song that would iconize this shift I would say it is the 1985 single by Dire Straits called Money for Nothing. Although the music of the song is as good as any other Dire Straits song, its success was driven by the pop elements in it as well.

Let’s begin with the music. If there is one thing unique about Dire Straits, it is that none of their songs have been covered by anybody and the factor that makes them so difficult to imitate is the unique style of Mark Knopfler. Knopfler rarely uses a plectrum while playing the guitar. He has a unique style of plucking the guitar that most people find impossible to copy. He has given a detailed insight into his playing style in a French interview that you may find here. He has given a good insight about his playing style for a rock documentary called ‘The seven ages of rock’.

The song begins with the line “I want my MTV” that was sung by Sting (who was in Montserrat where the song was being recorded and was casually invited to add some background vocals). Then the keyboards and drums enter and at 1:37 one of the most memorable guitar riffs begins. At a run-length of 8:26 the song does an amazing job of keeping one engaged throughout.

The lyrics of the song are about a layman who works as a delivery man in a hardware store.  He sees the life of rock-stars on MTV and sees that everything comes much easier to them while the delivery man works so hard and gets nothing in return. Knopfler wrote the song while overhearing a delivery man setting up his kitchen and the language of the lyrics depicts this fact quite well. In some parts the language was so crude that it created a controversy over being sexist, racist and homophobic. Interestingly the writing credits of the song are given to both Sting and Knopfler. Sting, however, has said that he has only written the line “I want my MTV”.

Usually, we avoid writing about videos of songs in this section but the video of this song was so significant in the history of music that you just cannot ignore it. This was the first song featured on MTV in Europe when it aired in 1987. Also, it was amongst the first songs to use computer generated animations. The video went on to win the MTV video of the year award in 1986 (no surprises there!). What makes this video unique is that it is one of the first videos of a good rock song which actually had a video. All rock songs before this would usually only have concert videos (Because MTV started in US in 1981 and there was no place to air music videos before that). Knopfler was not very enthusiastic about making a video for the song as he believed it destroys the purity of the writers and performers. The producers somehow coaxed him into making this video. And after this, Dire Straits has given some of the most fantastic music videos ever (my favourites being Brothers in Arms and Walk of Life).

This song marks the beginning of the MTV generation. The 90s marked the coming of teen pop music and boy bands. Purists contend that this was a degradation of good music. Although good music still continued to be produced, how good MTV truly was for music will always remain a question.

The original Money for Nothing video

Dire Straits performing Money For Nothing live

An insight into Mark Knopfler’s technique