#80s mtv

[snazzywafflezzz]

♡𝙈𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟳♡

[strangerbynight9889]

[aplaceforyourhearttorest]

sebastian on mtv's headbangers ball, 1992 ♡

[itsallmadonnasfault]

@LaHistoriaUSA The end of an era. The MTV music video channel, which was a boom in the 80s and 90s, announced that this December 31 it will put an end to 44 years of uninterrupted broadcasting, because the industry has changed and nothing is the same anymore

[thegreatriot]

i’m still very curious about this image, i can’t find the actual source, it only brings me back to the poster of the image on tumblr. I NEEEEEED to find out where this is from!!!! Someone please!!!!

[anaheartgnr]

[the-girl-who-loves-monsters86]

[preppypinkdress]

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗽 "𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗿" 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴 "𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹"

If you've ever experienced the nightlife, even if only through an '80s movie, you've surely heard the mesmerizing beat of "Self Control." What almost no one knows is that this dance floor anthem was the catalyst for one of the fastest and most curious rivalries in music history: a true musical cloning in real time.

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The Original: Straight from Italy 🇮🇹

It all started in early 1984. An Italian singer-songwriter named Raf (Raffaele Riefoli) wrote and recorded a track with a genuine Italo Disco feel. It was a song with dark synthesizers, a striking mechanical drum beat, and lyrics that perfectly captured the somewhat dangerous, somewhat fascinating vibe of getting lost in the night of a big metropolis.

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The "Theft" in Record Time 🇺🇸

Raf's plan was to release the song in Europe and see what happened. But fate was faster. Executives at American singer Laura Branigan's record label heard Raf's demo or newly released version and realized the obvious: it was a global hit.

In a move that would be unthinkable today, they put Laura in the studio to record an American version that same year. The arrangement was practically identical, but Laura's powerful and theatrical vocals gave the song an explosive pop energy.

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Chaos on the Charts

The result? In the European summer of 1984, the two versions of Self Control were competing directly on the radio and on the dance floors. In some countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, Raf's original version and Laura Branigan's cover shared the top of the charts at the same time.

In the end, the American pop machine won in the long run: Laura's version exploded worldwide, became the definitive soundtrack of the decade (and was later immortalized on the radio in GTA: Vice City).

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Censored by MTV (The Master Touch)

To complete the mysterious aesthetic of the song, Laura's team hired none other than William Friedkin to direct the music video. Yes, the director of The Exorcist.

Friedkin created a super avant-garde and stylized mini-film, full of masks, dancers in the shadows, and a transgressive dreamlike atmosphere through the streets of New York. It was so ahead of its time and sensual that MTV America refused to air the video until the record label made cuts in the editing.

In the end, Self Control is not just a song about losing control at night; it's the perfect portrait of an era where pop was dark, cinematic, and contested second by second.