It’s about time all screens were too big to be viewed by one person at a time. I remember listening to the wind-up of “I want my” repeating as if it was a signal from outer space heading towards us.
Then we heard the drums before we felt the ground rumble. Those supersonic seismic sound waves had been racing towards the planet’s surface long before our heads were swimming in synthesized sounds coming out of a TV somewhere. Louder and louder, the drum beats got even louder.
The iconic intro features several synthesizers, most prominently the Synclavier for the sequenced melody and the Yamaha DX1 for the main keyboard sound.
While it is not an electronic organ, the band also used a real Hammond B3 organ in their live setup and for certain parts on the album, though it was not the primary instrument for the intro sequence itself.
The Mid-80s: Big Screen Dreams, Music and TV.
Was that MyTV or Music TV?
Everyone knew we would get big-ass TVs to watch music videos all day long in the very near future. And they would just get bigger, as the "geetah" intro riff ignited the age money for nothing and your chicks for free.
Those lyrics and the main character of “Money for Nothing” were inspired by a real guy who worked in a hardware department in a television/custom kitchen/refrigerator/microwave appliance store.
The storyline sounds out through the lyrics as the point of view of two working-class men watching music videos and commenting on what they see, comes to life on-screen also featuring a guest appearance by Sting, who sings the signature falsetto introduction, background vocals and a backing chorus of "I want my MTV" set to the same notes as the chorus of the Police's hit "Don't Stand So Close To Me".
The intro of the song and music video literally marked the beginning of a new age in popular culture globally.
“He's singing the song. I wrote the song when I was actually in the store. I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real.”
— Mark Knopfler, 1986
The song is considered one of most commercially successful singles ever, pre-internet, peaking at number one for three weeks on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Top Rock Tracks chart and number four in the band's native UK.
At the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986, it won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year as well.
At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video received 11 nominations, winning Video of the Year and Best Group Video
The video, recognized as the first audio-visual production to use computer-animated human characters, aired on MTV Europe to launch the network.
The "Music Video"; a short visual production to compliment and complete each hit song, would now be the norm.
You had to be there to really understand. It is so hard to convey how big a deal MTV was back in the day. No YouTube, no internet. Mostly just broadcast television and maybe some music videos playing late at night.
To turn on the television and watch a music video anytime you wanted was mind blowing.