I finally broke down, and went ahead and bought the book I Want My MTV. It’s a fascinating read so far. I am still in the founding years, but whether there was systemic racism or even next to none, they were destined to run into a color barrier issue. There was enough bad ingredients and thinking to make sure it happened. Perhaps that’s the reason why it only took two years for it to fall while being riddled with inconsistencies in between.

I bring that up because while I saw this music video many times as a kid, it wasn’t till now that I noticed it is a music video I would have thought verboten by MTV. Instead it was Super Freak by Rick James. That actually has an interesting story. It wasn’t rejected because James was black. It was rejected by a black woman at MTV who thought it was “crap” and wasn’t going to let that be the representation of her people on the network. I can totally get that. That video essentially took the set of an early-70s ABBA music video, threw a couple of props in, added some women fawning over James, and called it good. The song is great, but the video is underwhelming to say the least.

As for Electric Avenue, it is one of those music videos they showed from time-to-time as an example of an 80s one-hit-wonder. That was his biggest hit. It isn’t fair to call him a one-hit-wonder him though. Even to this year he is still in the news. According to Wikipedia, he is slated to receive a lifetime achievement award from Guyana–his country of birth. He’d been around since the mid-60s with the group The Equals. You might not recognize the name The Equals. You have probably heard one of their songs. They did Police On My Back, which was later covered by The Clash.

The music video also shouldn’t be cited as simply an example of a one-hit-wonder. One of the things that is clear in the pre-MTV setup chapters of I Want My MTV is that artists were already chomping at the bit to have films that didn’t just overlay their music over scenes. They wanted film that knew how to use their songs, their meaning, and would be a representation of the song. It was not as revolutionary as Herbie Hancock’s Rockit. Still, it does get the gist of the song across to the audience.

It has Eddy watching TV at the beginning. He finally turns it off, walks towards the TV, and creates one of the most iconic bits in music video history. He drops into a pool of water trying to reach his television. He then appears to wash up on the beach in the real world where what appears to be two white cops/vigilantes are on the prowl. He seems to be stalked by these two people who I am pretty sure are white. In the end, it is a shot of has face.

According to Wikipedia:

“The song’s title refers to an area historically known as Electric Avenue; a reference to the first place electricity lighted the streets in the market area of Brixton, South of London. This is an area known in the modern times for its high population of Caribbean immigrants and high unemployment. Tensions grew until violence hit the street now known as the 1981 Brixton riot. A year later, this song played over the airwaves.”

I’m really curious about when and how much this music video aired on MTV considering the content. I know his music fit with the kind they wanted to play. Wikipedia says it was thrown in for racial diversity. That doesn’t change the fact that it screams unplayable by MTV during this time.

Director Steve Barron made it. He is one of the most influential music video directors of his time. I’ve already covered three of them, and I wasn’t even trying. He seems to have directed all but a couple of Eddy Grant’s music videos.

I want to make special note that I put 1983 as the release date for the music video even though IMVDb says 1982. Mvdbase even says the music video came out in January of 1983. That’s because while it was a big hit in the UK in 1982, based on the Wikipedia article, it didn’t make its way to the United States until 1983.

Enjoy!