This video gets 5 guitars if for no other reason than I said so! Round and Round is a classic 80’s rock/hairband/whatever you want to call it song. Ratt is often mislabeled as a one hit wonder, but they managed to release three subsequent albums that sold over a million copies each.

My one beef with the video is that the band is playing in the attic, but the album is called Out of the Cellar. Picky maybe, but it always bothered me.

WATN? After breakups, reunions, line-up changes, and the death of Robin Crosby, the band is back together and touring. Look for a new album in 2009.

Trivia: Comedian Milton Berle appears in the video. Warren DeMartini actually jumped through the ceiling himself. They couldn’t afford a stuntman.

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Our first Saturday Night Sort of Live Clip! No, not that SNL.  MTV used to show concerts on the weekends during the 80’s.  We can’t stream entire live shows for you, but we will try to post a concert clip on Saturdays.

This week’s entry is from Rush. If you’ve never seen them live before, this should inspire you to catch them before they call it quits. Pound Note loves this song, and we give it 5 guitars!

This video looks like it was shot in a smoke filled club for about $10 -which was probably what it cost to see the BoDeans in 1986. However, it was one of our first glimpses of the group that would be named Best New American Band by a Rolling Stone Reader Poll in January 1987.  The BoDeans videos, much like their shows, never included a lot of special effects or frills, just straight forward Americana rock.

WATN? The BoDeans released Still earlier this year and continue to tour. Update: The BoDeans released Live Acoustic in October. It is available exclusively through their website.

Trivia: The album title Love, Hope, Sex & Dreams comes from the Rolling Stones song Shattered.

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You probably couldn’t watch MTV for more than an hour or so in 1984 and not see this video. It broke new ground as one of the first videos to heavily use computerized effects.  The video helped push the song to #7 in the U.S. It broke ground again by winning the very first MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.

WATN? Benjamin Orr died in 2000, ending any hopes of a reunion tour. However, several members reformed with Todd Rundgren under the name The New Cars.

Trivia: Despite a string of hit videos, it was the first and last VMA the Cars won.

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Ground Breaking Video

Yes, that Michael Bolton. Believe it or not, the Adult Contemperary punchline of the 90’s was actually a headbanger in his early days. His first band even opened for Ozzy Ozborne! Try to wrap your brain around that little nugget.

Trivia: The song was featured in the movie Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield.  Guitarist Bruce Kulic went on to play in KISS for 12 years.

WATN? Playing some lousy lounge act in Vegas I suppose. I really didn’t have the stomach to find out.

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This video gets a 5 guitar rating if for no other reason than inspiring our logo:

Watching this video and watching Westerberg thrash his guitar makes you feel like you’re at a real Replacements show.  No frills. Just good music.

WATN? Paul Westerberg is still doing the solo thing, but the Replacements have been broken up since 1991. Deluxe editions of the early albums were released this year.

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Update: Michael Jackson’s people got YouTube to take away the embedding feature from all his videos. Nice! You would think after living in exile, he could use the publicity. Anyway, we’re revoking his groundbreaking video status. Wankers!

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson was the Jackie Robinson of music videos. It was the first hit video by a black artist on MTV.  Although it was just the beginning of his dominance of early MTV, he had already made a ton of money from his first solo album and with the Jackson 5. So, there’s really no reason he couldn’t afford pants that fit. I do like the steps that light up when he dance/walks upstairs at the hotel. I’m thinking of installing some in my house.

This video has everything -Marylin Monroe, a catchy tune, chicks in a cage, and even the drummer has both arms.  Photograph was the breakthrough single for Def Leppard, reaching #1 on the rock charts in 1983.

An odd spotlight seems to be circling the stage in the performance scenes and is a little distracting. I’m thinking the roadie might have burned a fatty before the shoot and was fascinated by the pattern it made on the floor. Also, out of nowhere, some chicks in a cage appear to the right of the stage. They really don’t add anything to the video, but it’s nice to know that the lads were giving NOW something to bitch about all those years ago.

WATN? Def Leppard continues to tour and make music. They released Songs from the Sparkle Lounge earlier this year.

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It was the first, but it certainly wasn’t the best. Midnight, August 1st 1981, MTV launched and this was the first video they aired.  Ironically, video didn’t kill the radio star, rather turning the artists who grasped the power of MTV into mega radio stars.  This one gets in on a technicality, though. It was originally recorded and released in 1979. It hit #1 in the U.K., but the band didn’t have enough material for a full album. It was included in the 1980 release, The Age of Plastic.

As for the video, it’s the classic low budget fair that dominated the early videos. I have to say the back up singers creeped me out. They look like the kids from Village of the Damned.

WATN? Who cares. People were asking that about 6 months after MTV launched.

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Welcome to the birth of our new website: WriteItOnAPoundNote.com.  This site is dedicated to 80’s music and the videos that have since disappeared from MTV’s and VH1’s programming.  We will try to post a new video daily with some commentary and “where are they now” type info.  If you love 80’s music, please suggest a video or tell your friends.

Our first video is dedicated to the man that inspired the name of the site. In 1982, Adam Ant’s Goody Two Shoes hit #1 in the U.K. and #12 in the United States. It was from the Friend or Foe album, his first solo effort after the breakup of Adam and the Ants.

Long before Johnny Depp or the “Puffy Shirt” from Seinfeld, Adam Ant perfected the Pirate Chic look.  The video is a bit self indulgent, but we give it 3 guitars.

“If the words unspoken, get stuck in your throat. Send a treasure token, token. Write it on a pound note, pound note.”

Trivia: The song is featured in the movie Hot Fuzz. The butler in the video, Graham Stark, appeared in three different Pink Panther movies.

WATN? - Ant turned to acting in he late eighties/early nineties. A couple of forgettable albums later, he released Wonderful in 1995. It was his last studio album.  A live recording entitled Live at the Bloomsbury is scheduled for release later this year.

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