USA NETWORK 
The first rap song that I remember liking is “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I first heard it as a video, probably on the USA Network’s Night Flight program and others like it that showcased cutting-edge music videos. The song came out in 1982, and I likely saw it around that time period. (MTV launched on August 1, 1981, but not everyone had it on their cable system right away, leading to the common chant: “I want my MTV!”). (September 2016) * * * Also on tap this coming year is an overview of New Wave Theatre, a fascinating public-access show that presented LA-area punk rock bands amongst other assorted weirdness that would air at the end of the popular late-night program Night Flight on USA Network. I have poked around on the Internet, and even though all of the episodes are now available on YouTube, not much has been written about the show – the Wikipedia article on New Wave Theatre has basically two or three paragraphs. Thus, I am going to have to do some primary research before I can get this post put together. I do plenty of that with the UARB’s and UARA’s, but for the remainder of the posts, I typically lean on Wikipedia and Allmusic. In other words, that is something else that I have been putting off. I had always hoped to at least keep this up for at least 10 years, but I am not there yet. (Year 8 Review) |