Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon R.I.P.

Gordon Waller, who with Peter Asher formed the Sixties rock duo Peter and Gordon, passed on July 17, 2009 at the age of 64. The cause of a severe heart attack. In 1964 Peter and Gordon had a hit with the Paul McCartney penned "A World Without Love," which went to #1 on both American and British singles charts. Including "A World Without Love," they had a total of nine top twenty hits in the United States.

Gordon Waller was born June 4, 1945 in Braemar, Scotland. It was while attending Westminster School in London that he met one time child actor Peter Asher. Both had an interest in music, although Gordon was more into rock 'n' roll while Peter was more into jazz. Eventually Gordon turned Peter into a rock 'n' roll fan, and the two of them both got guitars. It was not long before they were performing in pubs, coffeehouses, and smaller clubs as Gordon and Peter. It was while they were performing at the Pickwick Club in London that they were spotted by Norman Newell of EMI Records. They were signed to EMI right away.

Peter and Gordon sounded like a British version of the Everly Brothers and had a style that combined rock, blues, folk, and pop. It seems like that they would be successful no matter what. Peter and Gordon had an advantage that other, similar groups did not have in that starting in 1963 Paul McCartney was dating Peter's sister, Jane Asher. It was when they went in for their first recording session that they asked McCartney to finish a song fragment upon which he had been working. That song became "A World Without Love," which went to #1 on both sides of the Atlantic in early 1964. With success in both the United Kingdom and the United States, Peter and Gordon became part of the first wave of the British Invasion which swept the States in the wake of The Beatles. They toured the United Kingdom and appeared on Ready, Steady, Go, Top of the Pops, and Thank Your Lucky Stars. They also toured the United States and appeared on such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show and Where the Action Is. At the peak of their success they toured with The Beatles, Del Shannon, The Rolling Stones, and others.

Following "A World Without Love" Peter and Gordon had several hits on both sides of the Pond. In the United States they hit the top twenty with "Nobody I Know (1964--written by Paul McCartney)," "I Don't Want To See You Again (1964--written by Paul McCartney)," "I Go To Pieces (1964)," "True Love Ways (1965)," "Woman (1966--written by Paul McCartney)," "Lady Godiva (1966)," and "Knight In Rusty Armour (1966). In the United Kingdom they hit the top twenty with "Nobody I Know," "True Love Ways," "To Know You Is To Love You (1965)," "Baby I'm Yours (1965)," and "Lady Godiva."

Sadly by 1967 Peter and Gordon ceased having hits. After "Lady Godiva," none of their singles charted on either side of the Atlantic. In 1968 they parted ways. Peter Asher took over The Beatles' Apple Records A&R department. He signed James Taylor to the label and produced his first album. He would go onto produce albums for artists as diverse as Linda Rondstadt and 10,000 Maniacs. Gordon Waller played the role of Pharoah in a production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Edinburgh Festival in 1971. He would go onto appear in the play in both London and Australia, as well as performing for the soundtrack album. Following his success Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Gordon performed regularly in musical theatre. In 1972 he released a solo album and Gordon. Gordon later formed his own music publishing company. He also scored the television movie James Dean: Race with Destiny, which debuted in 1997.

It was in 2005 that Peter and Gordon reunited for a benefit for ailing Dave Clark Five drummer Mike Smith. They had continued to perform together since that time. Gordon would record the solo album Plays The Beatles in 2007 and Rebel Rider in 2008.

Although largely forgotten today or remembered only as a footnote in Beatles history, Peter and Gordon were not only successful in their day, but one of the best acts to emerge from the British Invasion. Their harmonies recalled The Everly Brothers, but they had a style all their own. It was a blend of rock, blues, and folk that seemed wholly unique to them. Peter Asher himself attributed Gordon Waller with most of their success, stating, "...Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo." While forgotten by many, there is every reason that both Peter Asher and Gordon Waller should be remembered. As for myself, "A World Without Love" and "Lady Godiva" will remain two of my favourite songs from the Sixties.

The 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Foreword

It was forty years ago today that man first set foot on the moon. Today we tend to take space travel for granted. After all, we have been exploring space for nearly fifty years now. John Glenn first orbited the Earth in 1962. The space shuttle programme is over thirty years old now. Russia's MIR space station has existed for nearly twenty five years. Since 1998 construction on the the International Space Station has been taking place, a joint effort by several different nations. For many people space travel must nearly seem routine today.

This certainly was not the case on July 20, 1969. Both NASA and the Soviet Space Programme were only a little over ten years old. It was only in 1961 that President John F. Kennedy set the goal of reaching the moon by the end of the decade. That NASA actually accomplished this at all is a major accomplishment; that they did it in eight years is extraordinary.

The Apollo Programme Gets Underway

It was on October 4, 1957 that the Soviet Union launched the first man made satellite, a tiny object (only 23 inches in diameter) called Sputnik I. The Soviet's accomplishment spurred the United States into action with regards to space exploration. It was on July 29, 1956 that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, was established when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. It was in 1960 that NASA first conceived a programme that would ultimately take man to the moon. It was on September 1, 1960 that the Apollo Project Office was formed. On May 25, 1961, in a speech before a joint session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy set the goal of placing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. NASA's Apollo programme suddenly became the nation's top priority.

It was on January 10, 1962 that NASA announced plans to build the Saturn C-5 rocket (later renamed the Saturn V), a rocket that would be powerful enough to take man to the moon. By 1966 NASA felt ready to launch their first mission in the Apollo programme. Unfortunately, on January 27, 1967, during a test and training exercise, the command module of Apollo 1 caught fire and was destroyed, killing astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee. This resulted in an exensive redesign of the Apollo command module. Although the mission never left Earth, it remained "Apollo 1" at the request of the widows of the astronauts. Strangely enough, there would be no missions officially named "Apollo 2" or "Apollo 2." The next mission would be deemed "Apollo 4." Taking place on November 9, 1967, it was an unmanned flight and the first flight of the Saturn V rocket. Apollo 5, taking place on January 22, 1968, was an unmanned flight of the Lunar Module. Apollo 6, taking place on April 4, 1968, was the second test of the Saturn V rocket.

It was with Apollo 7 that NASA resumed manned Apollo flights. Launched on October 11, 1968, Apollo 7 was essentially a test flight. It was the first NASA mission in which three astronauts took part. It was also hoped that the mission would rebuild confidence in NASA after the Apollo 1 disaster. The mission of Apollo 7 was simple. It was to orbit the Earth for as long as there was enough oxygen and other consumables on board and for as long as it was safe. The mission ultimately lasted eleven days and proved the worthiness of the Apollo programme. Apollo 8 would be an even more daring mission. Launched on December 21, 1968, the mission would see the first time that a spacecraft achieved sufficient velocity to escape the Earth's orbit, the first to orbit another celestial body (the Moon), and the first to escape another celestial body's orbit to return to Earth. The historical significance of Apollo 8 was not lost on either NASA or the media. It became the most covered NASA mission since John Glenn had orbited Earth in 1962. Even the Soviets were impressed, with Boris Nikolaevich Petrov, head of the Soviet Intercosmos programme, describing the flight as "...outstanding achievement of American space sciences and technology." Guesstimates are that one fourth of the population of the Earth saw Apollo 8's Christmas Eve transmission during its ninth orbit around the Moon. Its most famous legacy may be the picture of the Earth rising over the Moon, taken on their forth orbit around the satellite.

The next two missions, Apollo 9 and Apollo 10, were manned missions that included the Lunar Module necessary for landing on the moon. With Apollo 9 and 10 successful, NASA determined that with Apollo 11 it was ready to attempt what would become its greatest achievement, and possibly the greatest achievement in the history of the man: landing on the moon.

The Apollo 11 Mission

With Apollo 11, NASA took no chances with Apollo 11. Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. had flown in space missions before. It was only the second time that NASA used an all veteran crew, the first being Apollo 8. While he had served in the Navy, Neil Armstrong was no longer a military man when he joined NASA. With Gemini 8 he became the first American civilian in space. Michael Collins was an Air Force Major when he flew aboard Gemini 10. By Apollo 11 he was a Lieutenant Colonel. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was a Major in the Air Force when he took part in Gemini 12. By Apollo 11 he was a Colonel.

It was Michael Collins who designed the famous patch for the Apollo 11 mission. It was important to Collins that the patch represent a "...peaceful lunar landing by the United States." He then decided upon an eagle holding an olive branch in its beak landing upon the Moon. NASA worried that the eagle looked too much like a symbol of war because of its talons, so they moved the olive branch from its beak to its talons. They also changed the Roman numeral XI to the numeral 11, thinking this would be more universally understood by the nations of the world.

The command module of Apollo 11 bore the call sign of Columbia, a reference to the name of the United States of America used in poetry and song. The lunar module bore the call sign of Eagle, after the national bird of the United States of America. Apollo 11 was launched atop a Saturn V rocket on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 AM Eastern Time, 10:32 Central. It entered Earth's orbit only twelve minutes. It was on July 19, 1969 that Apollo 11 entered the Moon's orbit. It was after thirty orbits around the Moon that the crew of Apollo 11 finally spotted their landing site, the Sea of Tranquillity. It was then on July 20, 1969 that Eagle separated from Columbia and began the descent towards the Moon.

The descent did not take place without a hitch. The Lunar Module's navigation and guidance computer issued several alarms, which computer engineer Jack Garman at Mission Control in Houston determined were only "executive overflows" caused by the computer's inability to process all of its tasks in real time. Another problem arose when the computer was directing Eagle to land in an area filled with boulders. Neil Armstrong corrected took control and landed on the Moon at 4:18 PM Eastern, 3:18 PM Central. Unfortunately, Eagle only had about 25 seconds of fuel left after the landing.

It was Buzz Aldrin who speak the first words from the Moon's surface, "Mode control - -both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm - off. 413 is in"--words related to the Lunar Module's navigation. It was afterwards that Neil Armstrong uttered the famous words, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed." This caused momentary confusion at Mission Control, thrown off guard by Armstrong's shift from Eagle (the call sign while the Lunar Module was in flight) to Tranquillity Base (the call sign used after it had landed). Once Mission Control realised Eagle had landed, they were very relieved.

Aldrin and Armstrong had been scheduled to sleep for six hours after the landing, but thinking they would not be able to sleep they decided to forego it. They then made preparations to leave the Lunar Module. It was at 10:56 Eastern Time, 9:56 Central, that Neil Armstrong began his descent to the Moon's surface. As he was almost ready to step onto the Moon's surface, he described its dust as "...fine and almost like a powder." Upon stepping onto the surface of the Moon, Armstrong uttered the famous words, That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong then became the first man to set foot on the Moon. Aldrin followed Armstrong, describing the Moon's surface as "Magnificent desolation."

The astronauts observed that walking on the Moon was very easy, even easier than the simulations they had gone through in training. While on the Moon Armstrong took pictures of the Lunar Module so engineers could better judge its condition after landing on the Moon. He also collected soil samples and panned the Moon's surface with a television camera. Aldrin and Armstrong planted the American flag on the Lunar Surface and then spoke with President Richard M. Nixon through a radio/telephone transmission. Nixon referred to the phone call as "...the most historic phone call ever made from the White House."

While on the surface of the Moon, Aldrin and Armstrong were expected to complete many tasks. The astronauts performed what is called the Solar Wind Composition Experiment, an experiment meant to determine the chemicals composing solar winds. They also collected more soil samples as well as samples of lunar rocks. The astronauts set up Laser Ranging Retroreflector array, which would accurately measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon. They also set up the Passive Seismic Experiment, meant to monitor seismic activity on the Moon.

With the lunar mission a success, Aldrin and Armstrong's next concern would be to return to Earth. The astronauts once more boarded Eagle, along with the various samples they had collected. When entering Eagle, Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker which the main engine used for lifting off from the Moon. NASA was worried that this might keep the engine from firing, effectively stranding the astronauts on the Moon. Fortunately, a felt tip pen was enough to flip the switch. The astronauts settle down to sleep, and after around seven hours they were awakened to leave the Moon. At 1:54 PM Eastern Time, 12:54 noon Central, that Eagle lifted off. They then rejoined Columbia and started their way back to Earth. It was on July 24, 1969 that Columbia splashed down east of Wake Island and south of Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

The Legacy of Apollo 11 in Pop Culture

It is difficult to determine the impact of Apollo 11 on Anglo-American pop culture. Much of this problem is due to the fact that well before 1969 the space programme had already had an enormous impact on pop culture in the United States. This can easily be seen in the television shows of the era. Many sitcoms of the time, from Gilligan's Island to Please Don't Eat the Daisies, had episodes which touched upon space in some way. At least two sitcoms dealt with space directly. The main character of My Favorite Martian, Uncle Martin (Ray Walston), was a space traveller from Mars. I Dream of Jeannie dealt directly with the space programme, the master of the genie named Jeannie (Barbara Eden) being Captain (later Major) Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman), an astronaut for NASA. In the mid-Sixties there were two space adventure shows, Star Trek and Lost in Space. In addition to television, the space programme would have an impact on everything from food (Pillsbury's "Space Food Sticks") to toys (Mattel's famous Major Matt Mason action figure). The movies were a bit slow to capitalise on the popularity of the space programme, probably due to the fact that there had been a substantial cycle towards sci-fi movies in the Fifties (which produced movies ranging from Destination Moon to Forbidden Planet). Eventually, even the movies would succumb to the popularity of the space programme. Doris Day's character in The Glass Bottom Boat worked for NASA. Planet of the Apes used a space mission as a means of tossing its characters forward in time. 2001: A Space Odyssey portrayed a world where space travel was part of every day life.

While it is hard to gauge the impact of Apollo 11 on pop culture because NASA had already had such a large impact on it, the lunar landing would have a few immediate effects on pop culture. David Bowie's song "Space Oddity" was rush released on July 11, 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 lunar mission. In the United Kingdom it would even be used in BBC's coverage of the moon landing. It gave Bowie his first hit in the United Kingdom, reaching #5 on the charts.

While there can be little doubt that Planet of the Apes and 2001: a Space Odyssey started a new cycle in film towards sci-fi that would last into the early Seventies, it seems possible that Apollo 11 may bear some responsibility in this too. On October 20, 1969, Hammer Films released the space western Moon Zero Two. While the movie was meant to capitalise on the popularity of 2001: a Space Odyssey, one must wonder if the timing if its release had to do with Apollo 11. Sadly, it did not do well at the box office. The film Marooned, based on the 1964 novel by Martin Caidin, was released on November 10, 1969, just four months after the Apollo 11 mission and four days before the launch of Apollo 12. Based in part on actual NASA sketches from the Apollo Applications Programme, the movie became a hit in a large part because of the missions. Released the following day was Dopplegänger (also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun), which sought to capitalise on the first Moon Landing with the tagline, "Man has conquered the moon with the epic Apollo 11 flight! Now take another momentous journey!"

Another immediate effect of the Apollo Moon Landing would be on the drink Tang. Tang had first been used by NASA during the Gemini programme. It was not used on Apollo 11, but Tang would take advantage of the lunar missions nonetheless. The moon began figuring prominently in their adverts. In fact, Tang would even offer a toy Lunar Rover (first used on Apollo 15) in the early Seventies. The Apollo programme would also have an impact on other products as well. In 1970 Avon manufactured what they called Moon Flight: the Game, which was basically a bottle of shampoo in the shape of the Apollo Command module and Lunar module. AMT issued an Apollo 11 model kit that included both the Command Module and the Lunar Module. Several other toys capitalising on the success of Apollo 11 were also made during the period.

While it is difficult to determine the immediate impact of Apollo 11 on Anglo-American pop culture, its lasting impact is easier to see. On the Seventies sci-fi series Space 1999, the Eagle Transporters may owe their name to the Eagle lunar module. Based upon those conspiracy theorists who, against all reason, believe none of the Apollo missions ever happened, was the movie Capricorn One. Released in 1978, the movie dealt with a government conspiracy to fake the first landing on Mars.

More recently, Apollo 11 itself was dramatised in the 1996 television movie Apollo 11, the 1998 HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, and the soon to be released film Moonshot. The 2008 animated movie Fly Me the Moon portrayed a highly fictionalised account of three flies who make it to the Moon with Apollo 11. The Apollo 11 mission has been referenced in everything from the movie Independence Day to the TV show Futurama to the TV show My Hero. Perhaps the most lasting effect of Apollo 11 may be the continued popularity of space oriented motion pictures. While much of this may be due to the success of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it is probably no coincidence that the past forty years have seen movies ranging from 1972's Silent Running to this year's Moon (directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones).

Regardless of its impact on pop culture, the Apollo 11 Moon Landing has had a huge impact on history, one that we forty years later may not yet fully understand. The most immediate effect was that it was the Apollo 11 mission inspired many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers to pursue careers in science. Apollo 11 also provided a large number of contributions in science. Through the still operative Laser Ranging Retroreflector array we not only have precise measurements of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, but even in the Moon's orbit. Through the samples of soil and rocks taken from the Moon, we have not only learned a great deal about the Moon, but the Earth itself. The space programme which led to Apollo 11, the Apollo 11 mission itself, and the subsequent Apollo and space shuttle missions have led to advances in fields ranging from medicine to technology.

The most lasting impact of Apollo 11 may be the knowledge that we can explore beyond the Earth. While most of the past forty years NASA has occupied itself with space shuttle missions and robotic missions to Mars and elsewhere, NASA has plans to return to the Moon and even to set up a permanent base there. It is only next month that NASA will test the new Ares rocket, which will take astronauts back to the Moon. This could happen as soon as the next decade. Sometime after 2030 there are plans for man to land on Mars. While there are still those who maintain the Apollo programme was a big waste of money. I myself see it as only the beginning of man's exploration of space. In that case, Apollo 11 is truly one of the most pivotal events in human history.

Dal McKennon, Voice of Many Cartoons, Passes On

Dal McKennon, perhaps best known as innkeeper Cincinnatus on the Sixties show Daniel Boone and the voice of Gumby, passed on July 14. He was 89 years old.

Dal McKennon was born Dallas McKennon (under which he was sometimes billed) in La Grande, Oregon on July 19, 1919. He was a young child when his mother died and he was sent to a farm to live with an uncle and aunt. It was on the farm that he first started mastering the imitation of voices, practising imitating the animals there. While in high school he enrolled in drama classes. He was still in high school when his talent for voices led him to work at a local radio station. He attended the University of Washington for at time, before serving in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He was stationed in Alaska.

Dal McKennon's first voice work was in the Walter Lantz cartoon Pigeon Patrol in 1942, where he provided the voice for Homer Pigeon. McKennon became one of Latz's favourite voice actors, voicing Buzz Buzzard, Wally Walrus, Homer Pigeon, Dapper Denver Dooley, and many incidental voices. Chances are extremely good that if one has seen a Woody Woodpecker or a Chilly Willy cartoon, then he has heard Dallas McKennon. Dal McKennon's talents were not used by Walter Lantz alone. He also provided the voice for the legendary comic strip characters Tintin and Professor Calculus in the movies De krab met de gulden scharen, De schat van scharlaken rackham, and Het geval Zonnebloem, all released in 1959. His vocal talents were also used by Disney, on such films as Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Dal McKennon received his best known role in 1959 when he became the voice of Gumby. Created by Art Clokey, the clay animation character had debuted on The Howdy Doody Show in 1956 and received his own show in 1957. In the beginning female actors (including Norma MacMillan, beat known as Sweet Polly Purebred on Underdog) voiced Gumby, along with Dick Beals (the voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer). In 1959 Dal McKennon took over as the voice of Gumby, providing the clay figure's voice until the series ended in 1964. He would provide the voice for Gumby in the Eighties series Gumby Adventures, which debuted in 1988, as well as the voice of Gumby in The Puppetoon Movie (released in 1987). Ultimately, Dal McKennon became the actor most identified with the role.

In the early Fifties Dal McKennon created and hosted his own local children's show, Space Funnies, which aired on KNXT-TV (now KCBS) in Los Angeles. On the show McKennon played the host Captain Jet. He made his live action, feature film debut playing a miner in Bend of the River, released in 1952. His national television debut was a guest appearance the following year on Dragnet. He would have small roles in Good Day for a Hanging, Let No Man Write My Epitaph, Twist Around the Clock, Son of Flubber, The Wheeler Dealers, The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Clambake, The Cat from Outer Space, Hot Lead and Cold Feet, and Frozen Assets. He would have larger roles in House of the Damned and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. He guest starred on such TV shows as The Tall Man, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Rifleman, My Favorite Martian, Wagon Train, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza. McKennon's most famous live action role may be that of Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone. Cincinnatus was a bit of a jack of all trades, filling the role of comic relief, innkeeper, doctor, fisherman, hunter, storekeeper, and trapper in the small village of Boonesborough.

Although he appeared in many live action movies and TV shows, McKennon's meat and potatoes would remain his voice work in animation. He provided the voice of both Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse on the TV show Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse. He also provided the voice for Q. T Rush in the animated series of the same name. On the various TV shows based on the Archie comic books, he voiced Archie Andrews, Hot Dog, Mr. Weatherbee, Pop, and Mr. Cleats. Starting with The Archie Show, the shows included The Archie Comedy Hour, Archie's Fun House, Archie's TV Funnies, The U.S. of Archie, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, and Archie's Bang-Shang Lalapalooza Show. He also provided voices for the animated features Oliver Twist, Journey Back to Oz, and The Adventures of Mark Twain.

McKennon did voice work for more than animated feature films and TV shows. He was the voices of various characters in commercials for Kellogg's cereals in the Fifties, including Cornelius the Rooster and Snap, Crackle, and Pop. He also provided the voice for animatronics figures in attractions at Disney's theme parks. Among them are Ben Franklin in The American Adventure, Andrew Jackson in The Hall of Presidents, and Zeke in The Country Bear Jubilee. It is McKennon's voice which gives the safety speech on The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, advising riders to hold onto their hats and glasses.

Although not quite as well known as fellow voice artists Mel Blanc or Alan Reed, there is every reason Dallas McKennon should be. The versatility of his voice can be seen in the range of characters he voiced, from the high pitched tones of Gumby to the lower tones of the Owl in Sleeping Beauty. On the various Archie TV shows alone he played seven different characters. He could be just as versatile as a live action actor. Not only did he play the friendly and funny innkeeper Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone, but several different heavies in Western TV shows (he once joked to an interviewer, "I specialised in barn burnings." Dallas McKennon was both a great voice artist and a great character actor. There is every reason he should be remembered.

Godspeed Legendary Anchorman Walter Cronkite

Tonight at a little before 7:00 Central, 8:00 Eastern, legendary newsman and long time anchor of The CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite died at the age of 92. According to his son Chip Cronkite the cause was complications from dementia.

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on November 4, 1916. His father, Walter Leland Cronkite Sr., was a dentist of Ducth ancestry, whose forebears had settled New Amsterdam. His mother was Helen Lena Fritsche Cronkite. Walter Cronkite was only nine years old when he had his first encounter with the news business. He sold copies of The Kansas City Star every Saturday night.

Mr. Cronkite's family moved from Missouri to Houston, Texas when he was 10 years old. It was Fred Birney, a journalism teacher who made a circuit about Houston area schools, who got young Mr. Cronkite into journalism. Birney appointed him editor of the school newspaper. Later he also helped Mr. Cronkite get a job at The Houston Post as a cub reporter and a copy boy. Mr. Cronkite delivered the paper at the same time he was a reporter. In his autobiography Walter Cronkite made the statement, "As far as I know, there were no other journalists delivering the morning paper with their own compositions inside." It was also when Cronkite was only sixteen that he had his first encounter with television. He and some friends went to the World's Fair where he took part in a demonstration of an experimental form of television.

Mr. Cronkite attended the University of Texas in Austin, occasionally reporting for the The Houston Press and other newspapers at the same time. He was at the university only two years before he decided he would rather be working. He took a full time job with The Houston Press, where he worked for a time. He was visiting Kansas City Missouri when he picked up a copy of The Kansas City Star and read news of the opening of KCMO Radio. It was in 1936 that he was hired as KCMO's entire news and sports department. At KCMO he broadcast under the name Walter Wilcox, because in the Thirties radio stations did not want broadcasters to use their real names for fear that if they left they would take their listeners with them. It was at KCMO that he met Betsy Maxwell, a University of Missouri graduate who wrote advertising copy for the station. The two married in 1940. Mrs. Cronkite died in 2005.

It was in 1939 that Mr. Cronkite took a job with United Press, for whom he covered World War II. He covered The Blitz on London. He also accompanied the first Allied forces in Northern Africa. In 1943 Edward R. Murrow offered Mr. Cronkite a job with his radio broadcast team out of CBS's Moscow Bureau. Mr. Cronkite turned Mr. Murrow down, deciding to remain with United Press. It was also in 1943 that Mr. Cronkite was one of only eight reporters selected to accompany B-17 Flying Fortresses and their crews on bombing runs into Germany. Walter Cronkite covered the Invasion of Normandy. He also landed with the airborne operation known as Operation Market Garden. Among the important battles he covered was the Battle of the Bulge. Following the war Mr. Cronkite covered the Nuremberg Trials.

It was after the Nuremberg Trials that Walter Cronkite left United Press to serve as the Washington correspondent for several Midwestern radio stations. It was in 1950 that Edward R. Murrow finally brought him to CBS, although he would be working in television rather than radio. He was hired to develop the news department for a new CBS television station in Washington D.C. It was only a year later that Mr. Cronkite was appearing in nationally broadcast programmes. He was the moderator on It's News to Me and Facts We Face in 1951. In 1952 he was the moderator of Man of the Week. It was also in 1952 that Mr. Cronkite was chosen by CBS to head the coverage of both the Democratic and Republican Conventions. The Democratic and Republican Conventions made Mr. Cronkite a household name for the first time in his career. He would anchor CBS's coverage of every political convention and election until 1980, with the exception of 1964. For the Democratic Convention that year CBS replaced Mr. Cronkite with the team of Roger Mudd and Robert Trout in an effort to challenge NBC's team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, who had received good ratings earlier that summer covering the Republican convention.

Starting in 1953 that he hosted the classic series You Are There, a programme which presented historical events as if they were being reported by television news. The series featured future film directors John Frankenheimer and Sidney Lumet among its directors. You Are There lasted four years and was revived in the Seventies as a Saturday morning show (again with Walter Cronkite). It was in 1954 that CBS made its first attempt to challenge NBC's Today Show. For The Morning Show CBS selected Walter Cronkite as its host. While on the short lived show Mr. Cronkite made the programme's sponsor, R. J. Reynolds, unhappy by correcting the slogan "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" to the more grammatically correct "Winston tastes good as a cigarette should." From 1956 to 1957 Mr. Cronkite was the narrator of Air Power, a documentary series covering the history of manned flight. Starting in 1957 he was the narrator of the long running series The Twentieth Century, a documentary series which covered important events in history.

It was in 1961 that Mr. Cronkite replaced Edward R. Murrow as CBS's senior correspondent. It was on April 16, 1962 that he replaced Douglas Edwards as the anchor of The CBS Evening News. Under Cronkite The CBS Evening News would see some changes. It would be broadcast from an actual news room rather than a studio, as it had formerly been. On September 2, 1963 The CBS Evening News expanded from fifteen minutes to a half hour. It was when the broadcast was expanded in time that Mr. Cronkite began his famous sign off, "And that’s the way it is." Mr. Cronkite was the first person to ever anchor a half hour television news broadcast. It would take several years for it to do so, but with Walter Cronkite as its anchor, The CBS Evening News would overtake The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC in the ratings. In time Walter Cronkite would become known as "The Most Trusted Man in America" and lovingly as "Uncle Walter."

As the anchor of The CBS Evening News Mr. Cronkite would cover some of the biggest events of the 20th Century: the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the arrival of The Beatles in the United States, the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the Watergate scandal, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and many others. Even while working on The CBS Evening News Mr. Cronkite continued to narrate The Twentieth Century. He also served as a reporter on various episodes of the series CBS Reports. Starting in 1980 he was the host of the science series Walter Cronkite's Universe. Walter Cronkite retired in 1981 at the age of 64.

His retirement was hardly sedentary. He still worked as a special correspondent for CBS, CNN, and NPR. Among the historical events on which he served as a special correspondent was John Glenn's second flight into space in 1998 (he had also reported on his first flight in 1961). He served as the Master of Ceremonies for The Kennedy Centre Honours: A Celebration of the Performing Arts for many years, starting in 1979. He was the host of 50 Years of Television: A Golden Celebration in 1989. After Katie Couric took over as the anchor of The CBS Evening News in 2006, it was Walter Cronkite's voice which introduced the show each night.

Walter Cronkite has been called "The Most Trusted Man in America." There are many who would say that, short of Edward R. Murrow himself, Mr. Cronkite was the greatest television newsman of all time. And they would not be without good reason. Walter Cronkite was known for reporting the news in a wholly unbiased manner. Throughout his career, Mr. Cronkite was the epitome of journalistic integrity. While he might express his opinions off camera, he never did so while on camera. At the same time, however, Mr. Cronkite was one of the few television newsmen who was approachable. The average American not only considered him one of us, but practically family. Walter Cronkite was not only "The Most Trusted Man in America," but he was also "Uncle Walter." It is perhaps a mark of his greatness that, among other things, Walter Cronkite is the only Missourian to have his own bust placed in the Hall of Famous Missourians at the State Capitol while still alive.

And while Mr. Cronkite was scrupulously objective in his reporting of the news most of the time, like the average American he could be moved by the momentous events of history. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Mr. Cronkite had to wipe tears from his eyes. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, he could not restrain an enthusiastic "Oh, boy!" Mr. Cronkite was fair and impartial, but like the rest of us he could be moved by powerful events.

As for myself, I must say that this has been one of the harder eulogies for me to write. Mr. Cronkite became the anchor of The CBS Evening News less than a year before I was born. He retired when I was 18 years old. For the first 18 years of my life, then, it was through Walter Cronkite that I received the news. It was largely because of Walter Cronkite's enthusiasm for the space programme that I became a supporter of space exploration. I have been a NASA enthusiast since childhood. It was partially because of Walter Cronkite's enthusiasm for history, particularly through the series he hosted, Your Are There, that I also became a history buff. During the time I was a journalist major in college (before moving onto Film and Television), it was Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite to whom I looked as to how to report the news. Walter Kronkite, a fellow Missourian, impacted my life in a way few celebrities have. For that reason, I am very sad tonight.

And that's the way it is, Friday, July 17, 2009.

Walter Cronkite's Report of the Historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Force of Evil (1948)

It is a sad fact of life that many of the best films noir are not widely known to the general public. Among my favourite films noir is Force of Evil, a 1948 movie directed by sceenwriter Abraham Polonsky. Today Force of Evil is only know to movie buffs and film noir devotees. This is a grave injustice, as it is one of those great films with which everyone should be familiar.

Force of Evil stars John Garfield as unethical lawyer Joe Morse. Among Morse's clients is powerful mobster Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts), who wants total control of the city's number rackets. Morse not only defends Roberts, but become his partner in the numbers racket. This is perhaps unfortunate, as his older brother Leo runs his own, smaller numbers racket. It is this conflict which propels the plot of Force of Evil forward (for those of you wondering what a numbers racket is, it's essentially an illegal lottery where the better tries to match three or four numbers which are drawn the next day or next week).

What sets Force of Evil apart from many similar films is that it works on many levels. It is a gritty crime drama with more than enough action and violence to satisfy devotees of the genre. At the same time, it is also a powerful melodrama in which the protagonist is conflicted between his loyalty to his powerful employer and the love he feels for his older brother. Above all else, what makes Force of Evil superior to many films noir is that it is extremely realistic. The movie goes into detail on the operation of the numbers racket, so central to the film's plot. In fact, it goes into so much detail that by the time one is finished watching the movie, he or she will know all about the numbers racket, including its terminology. Adding to the film's realism is the fact that much of the film was shot on location in realist style. While a very realistic movie, Force of Evil also features dialogue that borders on poetic and includes frequent allusions to the Bible. It is a very literate movie.

Force of Evil was the first film ever directed by Abraham Polonsky, who had previously written the screenplay for the classic boxing film Body and Soul. Polonsky also co-wrote the film's screenplay with Ira Wolfert. Sadly, Polonsky's film career would be disrupted when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1951. Blacklisted in Hollywood, he was forced to write movies under a number of pen names, most of which have never been revealed. It would not be until Madigan in 1968 that he would once more be given credit on a movie. He would not direct another movie until 1969, when he directed Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.

Force of Evil was hailed by no less than Martin Scorsese as a forgotten masterpiece. He also said that it was the first film he ever saw which featured "...a world he knew and saw." Force of Evil is simultaneously a realistic film shot on location and dealing with crime in a realistic fashion, and a movie centred on the tragic relationship between two brothers. I dare say that everyone could find something to like in this movie, whether they are film noir buffs or they do not really care for film noir. Quite simply, Force of Evil is a film which transcends genre.

Leverage

After spending what seemed like the longest time writing eulogies for celebrities who have died and a six part history of music videos (I think it was the longest series of articles I've ever written in this blog), I thought I would relax and just plug one of my favourite shows currently on the air. Leverage starts its second season tomorrow night on TNT at 8:00 PM Central.

For those of you who have never seen Leverage, the series centres around a team of former con artists, hackers, and thieves, banded together under by former insurance investigator Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton) to right corporate and government wrongs against the average person. The average episode of Leverage plays out like a good caper movie, with the team not only playing elaborate con games, but usually having to break into some place as well. Creators John Rogers and Chris Downey were obviously inspired by such classic movies as Topkapi and Ocean's Eleven.

Of course, what often makes the classic caper movies so great are their casts, and Leverage has a great cast. In addition to Timothy Hutton, the series features Gina Bellman (perhaps best known as Jane on Coupling) as con artist Sophie Devereaux, Christian Kane (who appeared on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lindsey McDonald) as martial artist and heavy Eliot Spencer, Beth Riesgraf as cat burglar Parker, and Aldis Hodge (who appeared in the films Die Hard with a Vengeance and the Coen Brothers' remake of The Ladykillers) as hacker Alec Hardison. Each and every one of the characters is well developed, with original personalities. There is no doubt in my mind that Leverage is both one of the best acted and best written series currently on television.

To give you a taste of the series, I'll leave you a character recap of my favourite character, the beautiful Sophie Devereaux, courtesy of TNT.TV:

A History of Music Videos Part Six

The Music Video Fad of the Eighties

While the history of music videos goes back to the advent of sound film, it would not be until the Sixties that they would be made with any sort of regularity. It was in that decade that The Beatles and other artists inaugurated the practice of creating promotional films for various songs. The creation of promotional films continued into the Seventies, but it would not be until the success of a video shot for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" that the record companies would start shooting videos for nearly every single they released. In the late Seventies interest in music videos had grown to the point that entire TV shows devoted to music videos were developed. By 1981 the growing interest in music videos resulted in the creation of MTV, the first cable channel devoted entirely to music videos.

MTV was an enormous success, but that would not have been the case had there not been a good deal of initial interest in music videos among the general public. In fact, in 1981, the same year that MTV was launched, two video albums were released. One was Elephant Parts, which Michael Nesmith of The Monkees produced through his company Pacific Arts. The other was The Completion Backward Principle by The Tubes. What set these video albums apart from earlier video albums (such as those released by Blondie and Split Enz) is that it was the artists themselves rather than the record company that instigated them. Even if MTV had not been launched in 1981, the completion of two video albums conceived by the artists themselves and the debut of several video shows (Video Soul, Night Flight, and so on) demonstrated the demand for music video at the time.

It is little wonder, then, that MTV became a phenomenon in the early Eighties. In fact, combined with the interest which already existed in music videos, MTV would spark an outright fad towards music videos. Nineteen eighty two would see yet more shows dedicated to music videos, largely because of MTV's success. On Nickelodeon, the channel which had aired the historic Pop Clips, Nick Rocks debuted. The series was a half hour in length and even at times featured guest hosts. It lasted until 1989. In 1982 the USA Network, which had debuted Night Flight the previous year, debuted Radio 1990. Strictly speaking, Radio 1990 was more of a music news programme, complete with interviews with music artists. That having been said, it did show a good number of videos. Radio 1990 aired on weekdays on the USA Network, lasting until 1986.

It would also be in 1982 that the music video service Bohemia Visual Music was launched. Unlike MTV, Bohemia Visual Music is a music video service provided to local broadcast stations. It started as Bohemia Afterdark and has aired on various stations throughout the years. Another development in the history of music video was the release of the movie Pink Floyd The Wall, based on Pink Floyd's hit concept album, that year. The film utilised a good deal of symbolic imagery, as well as an extended animated sequence. Pink Floyd The Wall had very little dialogue, with the story told largely through the music of Pink Floyd. It would prove fairly influential on music video.

By 1983 the music video fad was well underway. The year would see the launch of two music video channels and three important music video shows. Since the Sixties music video had been dominated by rock artists. With the growing interest in music video in the Seventies, there finally emerged videos featuring country artists. In 1982 two cable channels were launched which catered strictly to the country music crowd. Curiously the two channels debuted within a day of each other in March of that year. The first to debut was CMT (short for Country Music Television), on March 6. The channel was founded by Glenn D. Daniels, who served as its Programme Director and its President in its early days. It was originally called CMTV, although the "V" was dropped from the name following a complaint from MTV. CMT was essentially the country equivalent of MTV, showing music videos 24 hours a day. While CMT would later expand into other programming, it still shows a good number of videos and much of the programming (movies, reruns of variety shows and so on) it airs is devoted to music.

The Nashville Network debuted on March 7, 1983, only a day after CMT. Unlike CMT, the Nashville Network was conceived more as a channel devoted to country music in general. While The Nashville Network did air music videos, most of its programming was of a more traditional nature. It aired variety shows, talk shows, and even game shows centred on country music. Among its most popular programmes was a television version of old radio standby The Grand Ole Opry. After Westinghouse bought both CMT and The Nashville Network in 1995, the Nashville Network gradually moved away from its original programming, even airing TV series such as Dallas and The Dukes of Hazzard. By the late Nineties Viacom had bought the Nashville Network. In 2000 Viacom changed the name of the channel to The National Network and shifted its programming entirely away from country music. The channel started shows reruns of old broadcast TV series such as Miami Vice, Newhart, The Rockford Files, Taxi, and WKRP in Cincinnati. By 2003 the channel would change again, this time renamed Spike. It was meant, in theory at least, to be a network devoted to men. It is as Spike that the channel has continued to this day.

Nineteen eighty three also saw the debut of three important music video shows. The first to debut was Night Tracks, on the superstation TBS on June 3, 1983. Initially Night Tracks aired for three hours on Friday night, and was then repeated on Saturday night. Night Tracks differed from MTV in that it aired a greater percentage of R&B and dance music artists. Night Tracks proved successful enough that TBS debuted other video shows in its wake: America's Music Tracks (devoted to country music, fall 1983-February 1984), Chartbusters (1984-1991), Power Play (1985-1988), and New Alternative Express (1991-1992). Night Tracks itself would change over the years. In 1989, with the debut of the two hour movie show Night Flicks, Night Tracks dropped down to two hours. In 1990 it was further cut down to 90 minutes, with the 90 minute block often repeated the same night. In 1992 Night Tracks went off the air entirely.

The second music video show to debut in 1983 was New York Hot Tracks. New York Hot Tracks premiered only about a month after Night Tracks, on July 22, 1983. New York Hot Tracks was syndicated across the United States, primarily airing on ABC stations. The series aired dance and rap videos, with a few pop videos mixed in for good measure. New York Hot Tracks lasted until 1989.

The third music video show to debut in 1983 did so only a week after New York Hot Tracks, on July 29, 1983. Friday Night Videos was NBC's answer to MTV, and the brainchild of Burt Sugarman, who produced the show with Dick Ebersol. Its roots actually go back to The Midnight Special, which Ebersol produced. Ebersol left The Midnight Special for Saturday Night Live in 1981. Having a fairly bad experience with Saturday Night Live, Ebersol decided once more to do a Friday night show devoted to music. Friday Night Videos tended to concentrate on Top 40 songs, although it also showed a variety of videos from rock, R&B, and rap artists. It even occasionally showed older videos from the Sixties and the Seventies. In the beginning the show was 90 minutes in length, with the videos announced by an off screen announcer. By 1985 Friday Night Videos started using guest hosts, including Elvira, Yoko Ono, Ozzy Osbourne, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt, among others. In 1987 the series was cut down to only an hour. In 1991 live music performances were added. By 1994, with ratings falling, the format of Friday Night Videos was changed and its title shortened to Friday Night. Friday Night showed celebrity interviews, movie reviews, live performances, and stand up comedy. It only aired two music videos a night. Friday Night was cancelled in 2000, with its final episode airing on December 29, 2000.

It was in the midst of the music video fad that there would be another music video which would make history. In some respects the importance of the video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" has been overestimated. Storyline videos have existed at least as far back as the Sixties. In fact, in the early Eighties storyline and conceptual videos were generally the rule. Music videos had also become very sophisticated even before MTV was launched. Regardless, "Thriller" was historic for two reasons. The first was the sheer amount of money involved. "Thriller" was the most expensive music video of the time, made for $500,000. Second, "Thriller" was as much a film short as it was a music video. It was even directed by an established movie director, John Landis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Jackson. It featured Jackson's transformation into a werecat, a spoken word monologue by horror actor Vincent Price, and choreographed zombies. The video debuted on MTV on December 3, 1983. As of 2006 Guinness World Records estimated that it was the most successful music video of all time, selling over 9 million copies.

Nineteen eighty four would see the launch of more music video channels and more music video shows. The first of these was Music Box, a pan-European music video channel launched in March 1984. Created by Virgin Vision, one of Richard Branson's companies, Music Box aired throughout Britain, Europe, and the Middle East. Unfortunately, Music Box would not last as a music video channel. On January 30, 1987 Music Box ceased to be a 24 hour music video channel and became merely an independent producer of music programmes. It would continue to air ten hours of videos a day on the Super Channel, which took over Music Box's satellite frequency. By 1990 Music Box ended its satellite broadcasts entirely, continuing to this day as a producer of music shows for the British networks.

A more successful music video channel was also one of the earliest speciality channels in Canadian history. Without a music video channel of its own, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted a licence to CHUM Limited to launch MuchMusic, the first Canadian music video channel. MuchMusic was launched on September 1, 1984, "The Enemy Within" by Canadian rock band Rush being its first video ever aired. Even in its early years MuchMusic not only aired videos, but music and variety shows such as Electric Circus (a dance programme) and the game show Test Pattern. Unlike MTV, MuchMusic has been very lenient in censoring content, allowing even the "F" word to be sang or uttered and showing videos MTV had banned. Unlike other video channels, for most of its history MuchMusic did not drift too far from music oriented programming. Much of this was due to necessity. The channel's licence dictated that it show primarily music oriented programming. In fact, in the Nineties MuchMusic ran afoul of the CRTC when it aired Ren and Stimpy. Ultimately, it was forced to remove the show from its programming. Sadly, the Naughts would see MuchMusic airing more non-music programming, even reruns of The O.C. and Gossip Girl. Regardless, MuchMusic's success allowed it to even expand into the United States. In 1994 MuchUSa was launched.

While MuchMusic would see a good deal of success, an American music video channel launched in 1984 would utterly fail. With Night Tracks a success, Ted Turner of TBS attempted his own music video channel. The Cable Music Channel (CMC) was launched on October 27, 1984. It differed primarily from MTV in that it played a wider variety of music videos, everything from rock to country to dance to R&B. Turner apparently had big plans for the channel, even launching it himself. With the words, "Take that MTV!" he pressed a button, after which the CMC aired its first video, "I Love LA" by Randy Newman. Unfortunately for Turner, CMC found itself unable to sign up cable systems (many of who already had MTV) and unable to obtain the rights for top videos. On November 29, 1984 Turner decided to sell CMC to MTV. MTV in turn would use the channel's space on the SATCOM satellite to launch VH1 on January 1, 1985.

Nineteen eighty four also saw the debut of more music video shows. Back Porch Video debuted on January 28, 1984. It was created by the DJ Russ Gibb, then most famous for being instrumental in the "Paul is Dead (as in Paul McCartney)" rumour in 1969. Back Porch Video was unlike any other music video show on the air. It aired out of Westinghouse's Group W Cable studios in Dearborn, Michigan and was crewed entirely by local teenagers. It aired live on Saturday nights from 10 PM to 1 AM. From the beginning its videos tended towards mainstream rock and later alternative rock, although heavy metal and even hardcore punk videos were aired as well. Back Porch Video proved to be one of the most successful video shows of all time, lasting a full sixteen years.

It was on June 22, 1984 that ABC made an attempt to compete with NBC's Friday Night Videos. ABC Rocks was a half hour programme on Friday late night which showed top 40 videos. In the end it could not compete with Friday Night Videos, ending its run on August 2, 1985. More successful was Video Vibrations, which debuted on BET in October 1984. It lasted until 1997.

By 1985 the fad towards music videos was coming to a close. Despite this, two new music video channels would be launched that year. The first was VH1. VH1 was conceived by Warner Cable as a sister channel to MTV, one which would show videos which appealed to a slight older demographic. It was launched on the bones of Ted Turner's Cable Music Channel, taking over that channel's space on the SATCOM satellite. While MTV would eventually drift away from music programming, VH1 has never quite done so. Although it would start showing fewer music videos in the Nineties, to this day the vast majority of its programming is music oriented in some way.

The other music channel to debut in 1985 was The Video Jukebox Network, later simply called The Box. The Box would become well known for showing videos banned on MTV. It also became well known for allowing viewers to call in requests for videos. Initially free, The Box eventually set up a 1-900 line whereby viewers could request up to three videos for a small fee. At times popular videos would air on The Box well before MTV. Sadly, The Box would not last. In 1999 The Box was bought by MTV, who replaced its signal with that of their sister channel MTV2.

During the music video craze of the Eighties, music video infiltrated Anglo-American pop culture in a way that it never has before or since. The famous videos made for "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs" by Z. Z. Top, in which various individuals are helped by three mysterious, beautiful women travelling in a vintage 1933 Ford coupe, provided the basis for one of the dream sequences in the St. Elsewhere episode "Sweet Dreams," which aired during that show's third season. In the movie Beverly Hills Cop, the "Thriller" video was visually referenced. In Britain the series Not The Nine O'Clock News produced their own parody of music videos, "Nice Video, Shame About The Song." Even after the fad towards music videos had begun to fade, in 1986 the video to "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer would be endlessly parodied.

By 1985 the fad towards music videos was coming to a close. No new music video shows would be forthcoming in substantial numbers and no new music video channels would emerge. The music video fad lasted longer than most fads, approximately from 1981 to 1985, but like all fads it would come to an end. The end of the music video fad would have farther ranging effects than the cancellation of a few music video shows. Ultimately it would result in dramatic changes to the cable channel which had started the fad itself, MTV

The Fall of MTV
or
Reality Shows Killed the Video Star

By the mid to late Eighties the music video fad was coming to an end. As a result many music video shows went off the air. Video Jukebox may have been the first, cancelled by HBO in 1985. The USA Network cancelled Radio 1990 in 1986. Night Flight, once one of the most popular video shows, was cancelled in 1988 by the USA Network, only to return for another six years in syndication in 1990. Both Nick Rocks and New York Hot Tracks were cancelled in 1989. Both Friday Night Videos and Night Tracks would both be shortened in length.

As a result of the music video fad coming to an end, the ratings for both VH1 and MTV declined. Although sister channels, they would react to this decline in programming in very different ways. VH1 shifted from music videos to programming that was still music oriented--Behind the Music, Legends, and Movies That Rock. On the other hand, MTV began airing shows that had absolutely nothing to do with music. In 1987 MTV debuted a game show, Remote Control. While Remote Control would only last about three years, it was a sign of things to come. In 1992 MTV debuted the pioneering reality show The Real World. It would be followed by other non-music shows such as Road Rules, Jackass, and Singled Out. During this time MTV's ratings rose, encouraging the channel to air more non-music programming and fewer videos It is for that reason that as the Nineties progressed, MTV would show fewer and fewer videos. By 2000 MTV was showing only eight hours a day of music videos, and often those were confined to the early morning hours. By 2008 that number had slipped to only three hours a day.

While MTV's ratings increased during the Nineties and the early Naughts, the channel's change in programming also drove away viewers. Many of those who once tuned into the channel to watch music videos simply stopped watching it. While the ratings demonstrated that many enjoyed the reality shows on the channel, there were also many others who despised them. A running joke that became more common as the Nineties became the Naughts was that one was Generation X or older if he or she could remember when MTV showed videos. While giving an acceptance speech at the 2007 Video Music Awards Justin Timberlake, who is barely old enough to even remember when MTV showed music videos, called for MTV "...to play more damn videos!" Sadly, it seems his words fell on deaf ears.

As MTV moved away from playing music videos, the channel saw the need to create other outlets for videos. In 1996 M2 was created. M2 was what MTV once was, a 24 hour music video channel. It was renamed MTV2 in 2000. Unfortunately, in the early Naughts the reality shows and other non-music programmes from MTV had overwhelmed MTV2 as well. As a result MTV created a new channel, MTV Hits, which was also meant to be what MTV once was. Fortunately, it has not yet succumbed to MTV's non-music programming.

MTV's shift away from music videos might explain the rise of new music video channels in the Naughts, the first time a significant number of such channels have emerged since the Eighties. Indeed, it was in 1994 that CHUM Limited., the parent company of Canadian music video channel MuchMusic, expanded into the United States with MuchUSA. MuchUSA was essentially an affiliate of MuchMusic, operated by cable company Rainbow Media. In 2003 CHUM Limited revoked Rainbow Media's license to use the names "MuchMusic" and "MuchUSA," whereupon MuchUSA became Fuse. In August 1999 a music video cable channel named E-Music was launched in the United States. What set E-Music apart from other music video channels is that it is interactive; that is, viewers can choose five videos a day they would like to see by going to E-Music's web site. Other music video channels which emerged after MTV had shifted its format were the International Music Feed (it aired videos from around the globe and existed from 2005 to 2008), NOYZ (which existed from 2006 to 2008), Retro-Jams (specialising in older videos--founded in 2007 and continuing to this day), and The Tube Music Network (which existed from 2003 to 2007). While most of these music video channels failed, one has to wonder that they would have come into existence at all if MTV's programming had continued to be dominated by music videos.

Of course, beyond the creation of new music video channels, the Naughts would also see another development related to music videos. In the Nineties and early Naughts the vast majority of Americans accessed the internet through a dial-up connection. Such connections were two slow to make watching music videos, let alone television shows and movies, practical. Even with a 56 kbit/s modem, the fastest modem of the time, watching even a three minute video meant sitting for several minutes while the video buffered. As the Naughts progressed more and more people in North America and around the world began accessing the internet through broadband connections. With data transfer rates often well above 768 kbit/s, broadband made watching music videos, TV shows, and movies on the internet practical. As a result of the increase in broadband connections, video sharing sites such as YouTube and Metacafe came into being, and the websites of various media outlets (such as MTV) began offering much more in the way of videos. While MTV itself no longer shows much in the way of videos, its website features hundreds of them. For many people the internet would become the primary means by which they watch videos.

Indeed, by the mid-Naughts some music videos would only be released online. What is more, some of these music videos have proven popular enough to insure the success of the songs for which they were made. This was the case for both OKGo's "A Million Ways" in 2005 and "Here It Goes Again" in 2006. Weezer would eventually capitalise on this trend with their video to "Pork and Beans," in which they included twenty people famous only from being in videos on YouTube.

With the emergence of new music video channels and music video on the internet, it would seem that MTV has lost of much of its relevance to the medium of music video. In fact, it seems that in achieving respectable ratings in the Nineties and the early Naughts, MTV may have paid a high price for its shift in programming, one that ultimately was not worth it in the long run. Indeed, in moving away from music video MTV lost much of its influence on pop culture. At MTV's height in the Eighties, its veejays were celebrities recognised by a large number of people and the videos it showed were referenced in television shows and movies. Even when its rating declined in the late Eighties, a time when videos still comprised the majority of MTV's programming, the channel still had a good deal of impact on pop culture. "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer was released in 1986, after MTV's ratings had started to slide, and yet the video was endlessly parodied in a variety of media. This stands in stark contrast to the programming aired on MTV throughout much of the Nineties and into the Naughts. While a large number of people know who Martha Quinn is, one would be hard pressed to find anybody who would recognise any of the people who have appeared on The Real World throughout the years. And while various videos which aired on MTV in the Eighties were endlessly referenced and parodied, only a very few of the channel's reality programmes have been so referenced and parodied (The Real World and The Osbournes being examples).

Although it would take years, ultimately even MTV's ratings have suffered because of the channel's shift in programming. Indeed, in June the channel was struggling in the ratings so much that it laid off a good number of employees. MTV's woes would seem to be rooted in its shift away from music videos. Even as MTV reduced the amount of videos it showed in the Naughts, a cycle towards reality shows would overtake both the broadcast networks and cable channels. Eventually the broadcast networks and cable channels would be glutted with such programming. Once a genre that was the sole province of MTV became common place elsewhere, MTV's ratings began to slide once more. In the end, it seems as if MTV may have been better off remaining a music video channel. Granted, its ratings would not have been quite so high as they were when it first shifted its programming to reality shows and other programmes, but then it would not be suffering decreased ratings now. The worst that would have happened is that MTV would simply be speciality channel, although a profitable one.

Unfortunately, despite its falling ratings, it seems that MTV remains insistent in not showing videos. In June 23 of this year MTV announced a development slate which includes series with continuing characters and sketch comedy shows. Despite the fact that reality shows are most likely what caused the channel's drop in ratings, the channel seems insistent on developing new ones. Sadly, MTV ceased to be "Music Television" long ago. And I have to wonder that if it continues on its current course if it won't cease to be entirely.

Afterword

When most people think of music videos, they tend to think of the Eighties. As this series of articles demonstrates, however, the form has a history extending back to the very beginnings of sound film. Vitaphone and other studios would make music shorts in the late Thirties. The Forties saw the creation of a visual jukebox, the Panoram, for which over a thousand Soundies were made. The Fifties saw the creation of Snader Telescriptions, short films made to be aired as filler on television. The Sixties saw the reintroduction of visual jukeboxes and the production of films made for them. More importantly, the Sixties saw the creation of music promotional films, the direct ancestors of the modern music video. The Seventies saw record companies begin producing music videos on a regular basis. The Eighties saw the creation of channels devoted entirely to music videos. The Naughts would see the emergence of the internet as a force with regards to music videos.

Music videos have received more than their fair share of bad press. In the Eighties there were those who claimed that music videos devalued the very experience of listening to music. They claimed that videos violated the freedom of the listener to interpret a song as he or she sees fit. Another common criticism was that music videos commodified music, that music videos were essentially nothing more than commercials. Nearly thirty years later such criticisms hardly seem supportable. People still interpret songs however they wish. As to commodifying music, arguably songs have been commodified since the invention of the phonograph in the late 19th century. Indeed, it must be pointed out that while many good songs have benefited from exposure through a particularly good video, it is very, very rare that a bad song has benefited from exposure through a particularly good video. Regardless of what is up on the screen, it is ultimately the song itself that counts.

In the end it would seem that while music videos began as a promotional tool, they evolved very swiftly into an artform all their own. In many respects the very best videos can be regarded as a form of silent film, telling a story set to music and without dialogue. In many respects this makes music video a very challenging medium, for directors must rely almost entirely upon the visual to move the story along. It should be no surprise that music video directors ranging from Michael Lindsay-Hogg to David Fincher would move onto directing feature films. It would seem that the music video is an excellent training ground.

It is difficult to determine the future of music video, but it is certain that they have one. Even as MTV insistently refuses to play music videos, new music video channels have arisen and the internet has become another venue for music video. There can be little doubt that the music video will continue to grow and perhaps even to thrive as an artform.